Ubisoft's AC Shadows Apology Letter - Luke Reacts

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[@newyorkbo1]

No AC hasnt been historically accurate…BUT they’ve never had real people as MCs…if Yasuke was a side npc or something, nobody would care…but to finally take the fans to Japan where we have all wanted to go in this franchise, and make a historical figure playable and not use one of the hundreds or well known bad ass huge samurai throughout their history is a wild and stupid move

[@priestofthighs3013]

My favourite thing about ac games have been experiencing the culture and time period while meeting all these historical figures, imo playing as a historical figure will be less immersive

[@ApsmneShsbshu]

@@newyorkbo1 it’s safe to assume that Quebec wanted to do this for a long time, because in 2 of their games you could play as real people, for brief periods of time. And if they chose a historical character, I think Yasuke is one of the best ones they could’ve chosen

[@longjohn526]

You are wrong about that, many people would be upset with a Black man in Japan in any aspect ....... The ONLY thing Ubisoft needs to apologize for is taking a copyrighted flag and putting it in the game without permission. Everything else is just GamerGate Part 2 propaganda .......

[@trevoroliveira2588]

It’s a good thing they have Naoe too.. or do you hate her too cause she’s a woman?

[@AnGustus-Bus6]

That is a fair point. But also this is why they chose to not let you play as a real historical figure in Ghost of Tsushima. The Sakai clan had nothing to do with Tsushima and the ruling Shimura clan in the game is completely fictional. The real clan, the 'Sō clan' that defended Tsushima and lost their lives still have current descendents alive to this very day. Using their real life ancestors as the main protagonist in a game is quite insensitive and this was even pointed out by Sucker Punch. It would likely be much similar trying to use real life Samurai in AC Shadows, which is one of the reason I think they went with Yasuke. They probably saw it as a loop hole to get around that issue.

[@themarvelouschester3587]

Ubisoft: "we're sorry you feel that way about our game, also dont forget to preorder our game."

[@BonzerMrT]

“Sorry you losers are complaing about a video game. Anyways we know half the people that complained and said they aren’t buying it, are still gonna play”

[@MarekPlacek-be3lp]

I purchased Ac odyssey recently as my first ac title, and it was fine until they started to introduce Atlantis BS and game turned into cyberpunk.

[@Jimmy-6300]

@@MarekPlacek-be3lp Odyssey is not true AC. The AC formula died with Origins, anything pre-Origins is actual AC. I'd recommend Black Flag, even though it is over 10 years old, the graphics hold up and the gameplay is the best out of the series IMO.

[@BrotherhoodM]

@@Jimmy-6300 how are you gonna talk about "not true ac" then talk about how good black flag is lol. i will say blackflag is a masterpiece tho.

[@georgevirtus]

​@@MarekPlacek-be3lp Man don't play brotherhood you have to traverse ancient ruins under the colosseum.

[@maximus_8889]

If they had put a playable japanese character and Yasuke as an npc no one would complain. Just as they have always done. We play with fictional characters and interact with historic ones. And if they didnt say for a fact that Yasuke was a samurai would have helped too..

[@ApsmneShsbshu]

You can play as Japanese protagonist for 95% of the game.

[@_B0NES762]

​@@ApsmneShsbshuhe meant Japanese samurai

[@LimmeLimbo]

⁠@@_B0NES762Dont matter. Dont care. Stop crying about shit that’s a non-issue. “Boo hoo the second playable character is black instead of japanese 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢” Wanna play a male samurai THAT badly then play Ghost of Tsushima. Mfs always crying over nothing.

[@Pilotforgoddess]

@@LimmeLimbo People have a different opinion than you, grow up you child.

[@Amadeus_A]

Seriously. If Yasuke was a side character, I would've played it and be like, "Weird." But then I would've seen a YT short about him and then be like, "Oh cool. He's actually based on a real person. I didn't know that."

[@tami3456]

The non-apology apology

[@dudebruh8534]

*Insert Southpark "We're sorry" reference.*

[@Trisiton]

Because there is nothing to apologize for, this is a nothing burger that they had to address because of the controversy it has generated. Yasuke was a real historical figure, was he a fully fledged Samurai? No, probably not. JUST like how Washington was a real historical figure, but he didn't, in reality, come in contact with an isu artifact and turn into a tyrant. Does the inclusion of Yasuke in this context have something to do with trying to diversify the cast? Yeah, obviously. Is it anywhere near as egregious as people have made this whole issue out to be? Fuck no. Also, excuse me for not really respecting random Japanese investigative committees on this when the Japanese government pays westerns to come and fuck their women because their economy and birth rates is fully stagnated due to their historical xenophobia and unwillingness to take in ANY immigrants for years, overloading their workforce while also running out of people of working age. It's not a surprise that the cucked country that eventually needed to bribe westerners to fuck their women due to their historical racism don't want black people in a video game representing them.

[@oriitsemisan]

they had nothing to apologize for. Own the choice you made and move on with it

[@jhzwwe123]

Why would they apologize for doing nothing wrong? To appease racists? Lol

[@scottgallagher3886]

Except for cultural erasure ​@oriitsemisan

[@Arcademan09]

The "message" from Ubisoft falls apart because they openly bragged about Yasuke being historically accurate multiple times Edit: because people are stupid and can't read, *NO ONE IS DENYING HIS EXISTENCE* , he wasn't a samurai or a legendary hero

[@mikejack257]

@@Arcademan09 but he was.....

[@brandoncavallaro4982]

he is. he was in japan at the time dude

[@aznhomig]

"Yasuke" was never a samurai.

[@riddif]

@@brandoncavallaro4982 So if i flight to Japan, i'm automatically a samurai?

[@Arcademan09]

@@brandoncavallaro4982 because you guys are morons let me spell it out: *NO ONE IS DENYING HIS EXISTENCE* he WASN'T an important legendary hero samurai, he was someone Nobunaga found entertaining because he was a tall African man who spoke Japanese and when Nobunaga died Yasuke was let go back to the missionaries. If he has any titles or power that wouldn't have happened

[@Sammo212]

The fact that the MAIN SOURCE for all this modern yasuke stuff is a main who made it up, wrote the book so the JP version said it was a rumor but in English made it fact, was editing yasuke wiki to make HIM and HIS book the primary source when it wasn’t even out yet, made his book 480 pages off 4 paragraphs of primary sources, and then deleted his socials when all this came out is…LOL I also think its funny to make the woman with a sword on her back as the “stealthy in public” approach when that would have been just as our of the norm as Yasuke. There is no proof Yasuke carried Nobunaga's sword or head back; its literally a family who had "heard it all their lives". This author made it as though Yasuke completely changed Japanese history and was important in the larger scale of history...he wasn't, he was an interesting trivia that people can latch onto.

[@dostoyevsky7319]

@@Sammo212 none of these fools can name me one source of yasuke before 2019 when lockley wrote his fanfiction

[@widewide8587]

This is objectively wrong. There are many ancient text that allude to Yasuke and his high position within Nobunaga's court.

[@dostoyevsky7319]

@@widewide8587 name one person who documented it. Name one text that says something other than he was a slave owned by a missionary

[@dostoyevsky7319]

@@widewide8587 zero ancient texts say that. You read one article and that writer quotes lockley who wrote his fictional account in 2019. He was a slave owned by a missionary thats all thats known about him. But you can prove me wrong at any point

[@dudebruh8534]

@@widewide8587 I'd love for you to prove us all wrong then and show evidence. Or are you just one of those chronically online twitter mouth breathers that blindly agree to what companies say?

[@beige_projection]

May 16, 2024 Ubisoft's blog - Players will step into the roles of a Japanese shinobi, Naoe, and - in a series first - a real-life historical samurai, Yasuke. July 24, 2024 Ubisoft's apology letter - While Yasuke is depicted as a samurai in Assassin's Creed Shadows, we acknowledge that this is a matter of debate and discussion. how the turn tables

[@PytorDukiv]

Originally they thought they could force everyone to accept it by weaponiding experts and preventing discourse. Now that they've failed being held to that standard, they're relying on "We can do whatever we want in fiction". It's disgusting. Zero standards.

[@Foul-TemperedRodent]

lesson to everyone always question everything especially on wiki.. I just hope Ubisoft knock it out of the park people will forget this if its a great game.. not sure about in japan though but I don't think Ubisoft make that much from that market right

[@Trepie]

@@Foul-TemperedRodent I hope the game crashes and fails. Ubisoft deserve it

[@aznhomig]

@@Foul-TemperedRodent Japan has a right to be angry at the bastardization of their history. There's a way to do it right (Ghosts of Tsushima, for example), and then the clown way, which we see in this Ubisoft title.

[@vault29a]

@@aznhomig ghost of stushima is baseless fanficyion at best, lol.

[@MrImmortal709]

Feels like that South Park parody apology for the oil mess, "Sorry... so sorry...." Sorry but you are also wrong in many regards, Ubisoft did always call him a Samurai, an important Historical figure and all that made up stuff, now they are backpedling, maybe talk about that stuff as well.

[@abelchavez2463]

They didn't backpedal. Did u read the note??

[@D4C_LoveTrain1]

​@@abelchavez2463read? why would we read when spreading dumb opinions and misinformation is so much fun?

[@jordandittman9474]

@abelchavez2463 I agree. It's basically just saying, we don't know what we're talking about and they chose correctly and are in the right. That we should suck it up and get over it. It's definitely not an apology, it's a "fuck off" in nice terms.

[@PytorDukiv]

​@@abelchavez2463They are back pedalling. Otherwise they wouldn't be calling it historical fiction while for months Yasuks was defended as being real history that you couldn't dispute because it's racist. If it's historical fiction people can now freely say it's a stupid decision, there's no justification.

[@GothPaoki]

They clearly backpedaled. They mentioned there's some discussions about what he was now. Instead of saying he's a samurai like they did initially

[@xx_HI_xx7]

First off, I cringed when I heard the rap beat for yasuke. The main problem is that we are, for the first time, playing as a real person, and the history behind him is still rocky . The main historian behind yasuke is this white guy who is the arbiter of all his information. For ubisoft to speak about yasuke in absolutes only helped dif themselves further in the grave on this.

[@jordandittman9474]

That rap beat was more racist than any of the people complaining about Yusake lol

[@xx_HI_xx7]

@jordandittman9474 still funny to think about. They think black people are not without dreads and a rap beat. I'm waiting to see what other stereotype they'll use.

[@ApsmneShsbshu]

That is not a rap beat. And Ubisoft said that Yasuke is a debated topic, and not much is known about him, so they made up the story. How is that an absolute. They aren’t sith.

[@xx_HI_xx7]

@ApsmneShsbshu your wrong on both of your points. It absolutely is a rap beat. Just with a little japan flare. Also, the devs originally told the story of yasuke as if the information they shared was truth. They never obfuscated any information. Only later on, did they start to walk back after they started to receive backlash, rightfully so. Now go back to eating cheese balls wiping the dust off on your XXXL anime waifu shirt.

[@ApsmneShsbshu]

@@xx_HI_xx7 can you tell me specifically what makes it a rap beat? And in one of the first interview Ubisoft did, the devs said not much was known about Yasuke, so they made up his story.

[@Ebwr1973]

The thing is, if I’m playing a game in Japan I want my character to be Japanese. I also don’t want the music to be “hip-hop” inspired, I want it to fit the set and setting.

[@rangerthederpgoat2326]

That would make sense, apparently we have to force everything now. If they wanted a black protagonist and they should honestly, send the series to Mali or something and/or make Black Flag 2 with Adewale as the protagonist and fully close out that timeline thread instead of the trash heap that is Skull and Bones.

[@TFAric]

@@rangerthederpgoat2326 An Assassin's Creed in the US would also work if they don't want to go to Africa. If you want to do the former slave or something that would not be strange in the least.

[@noamias4897]

If you're talking about trailer music, I'd argue, as a Swede with interest in Viking history and culture, that Valhalla is a fantastic Viking fantasy game. Despite that, they used some house music in its first trailer. That's just what they do, and while I don't like the music choices in their trailers it never reflects the games.

[@DarknessDust]

you must LOVE the Gladiator 2 trailer then xD (regarding the music)

[@Trisiton]

"hip-hop inspired" and it's just a black person.

[@silverscion2144]

After the trap beat combat demo, gibberish Kanji promo materials, and Zoro sword rip-off, Ubisoft has officially surpassed Bethesda for me in the great lolcow rodeo race.

[@Daniel__Nobre]

Indeed. They absolutely showed how they see their audiences: as drones that eat up everything they’ll throw unto them.

[@luckyfk3452]

It was a passion project for many devs, you see. That's why it a game in Japan where african samurai, walks through some chinese architecture streets to some rap beats. Japan! Also here are some anime chachkies we grabbed from amazon. Reeks of passion.

[@Max-zs6ur]

I have been told in the Ubisoft offices there are strongmen doing tricks and lions that jump into fire circles.

[@Daniel__Nobre]

@@luckyfk3452 🤣🤣

[@theblackknight101]

@@luckyfk3452 There are also crops and flowers and fruits from all the different seasons just thrown together.. flowers that bloom in spring with fruits that are harvested in autumn.. or something like that.. just shows the lack of care.. their "history tour" mode in game will be garbage this time around.

[@d.a.baracus]

The issue is that, when Asians have been represented in media in the past, two tropes are often used; one, the white or foreign savior trope, & two, Asian women as sex objects... Many Hollywood movies that are set in Asia or based on Asian cultures, have white, or non-Asian male characters as the hero and Asian women as the love interest; very few, almost none have Asian men as the lead w/ non-Asian females as the love interest. You look at movies like The Last Samurai, The Great Wall, Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Wolverine, 13 Ronin (Keanu is 1/8 Chinese, & 3/4 European descent) are just a few examples of one or both tropes. When you have a non-Asian male protagonist in this game, it only reinforces that trope that Asian men are weaker than men of other races (I'm assuming that Yasuke is going to mow down dozens of Asian male enemies...). Additionally, when you have 2 lead characters in this game, 1 non-Asian & 1 Asian, & the Asian is female & the non-Asian is male, it reinforces the 2nd trope of Asian women as seductresses or sex objects, esp. since Naoe is likely to be able to engage in romance options in the game. These are fairly consistent tropes when you see diverse casts of characters, these tropes are often present... Asian men often being portrayed as sidekicks to non-Asian men & Asian women being portrayed as the love interest, often for the non-Asian male character. AC's choices in this game just shows that people don't seem to see these stereotypes as being problematic...

[@the_articulated_artist]

A couple things, I do agree that those stereotypes are extremely prevalent in modern media and I’m glad we’ve tended to move away from those tropes with games like Ghost of Tsushima and Rise of the Ronin. But your point about Naoe, isn’t it possible that Yasuke will be able to romance people too? I think just having a Japanese female character being able to romance someone doesn’t follow the trope of them being viewed as objects, as is very prevalent in other forms Japanese media. And I don’t think Yasuke follows the trope of white savior or anything like that as he is a minority on top of, given his backstory, been a part of Japanese culture for a long time. I think you have very good points about the tropes and lay them out extremely well. I just don’t think they apply 100% to these characters.

[@xShikari]

Well, it may be kind of hard to get a proper japanese cast because they are still incredibly isolationist. Also sex sells. Movies are made a certain way because they sell like that.

[@drinnerd8532]

@@the_articulated_artist I see what you mean. However, I think the main idea that the original poster is trying to make is that it’s not two Japanese people leading in these roles. I get your point about Yasuke being a part of Japanese culture for a long time and not being the typical “white savior type “but I think the most distressing part is simply that the role didn’t go to a Japanese man, and it really should have. As a black American male, I totally get wanting to be represented properly in media. Asians deserve that just as much as anyone else, and it really just seems like they’re often denied that opportunity. There’s also the big slap in the face of the irony of trying to appear as “inclusive “ by including a black character in this story, but they included him at the expense of a main Japanese male character. And I guess my question is, wouldn’t it have been just as diverse and inclusive or more so to have the story be entirely led by Japanese characters?

[@the_articulated_artist]

@@drinnerd8532 that’s definitely a fair point as well. It’s entirely possible they wanted to go a different route from Ghost of Tsushima which is still recent in the gaming community’s minds. And it’s also entirely possible they saw that the story of Yasuke could simply make a more interesting and compelling story. But again, the points you brought up are totally valid and definitely an option they could have gone with. It definitely is a complex issue 🙏🏻

[@Desu-Desu-Chan-San]

@@the_articulated_artist Best stereotype is the hiphop beats for the black man in AC Shadows. :)

[@apotheosis27]

Oh man the disclaimer at the beginning of the game is gonna be a doozy

[@kennylove5653]

Man what lmbo

[@65firered]

"This is a fictional game with no basis in historical fact and cultural beliefs nor is it representative of the people, history or culture of Japan. Any references to historical events or figures are purely for fictional purposes and are not reflective in any way to the history and culture of Japan. We apologize for any alterations that maybe considered disrespectful and will strive to improve our representation of history and culture in the future. - Ubisoft Quebec" They need to put Ubisoft Quebec in the disclaimer just so everyone knows exactly who is responsible for this.

[@gamer7916]

Every assassins creed game at the very beginning has a disclaimer saying it’s a work of fiction inspired by historical characters and events. The fact people claiming to be AC fans but don’t know this is mind boggling.

[@apotheosis27]

@@gamer7916 thatsthejoke.jpg

[@The_Gavinator]

flash montage of that disclaimer from every other game and then cut to this one and underline it

[@champagneson9]

I like how Luke says “if you been living under a rock” as an insult to his viewers. Bro I do window tint and we been busy all day. I don’t have time to scroll twitter and look at random shit like you do.

[@noamias4897]

When does he do this? And obviously he expects people who watch his stream to be more in the know than the average person

[@champagneson9]

@@noamias4897 usually it’s a video when it’s breaking game news. So very rare. The Ubisoft boat game, this game.

[@AnthonyBC93]

It's not so much that people are living under a rock, its more like some people, me included, just do not care tbh. I am so sick of almost every game having some sort of controversy when its announced, or released. Facts are facts, majority of gamers are nit picking children

[@cornerstoredrugs389]

Thank you!!! Somebody had to say it literally just play the game we’re here for a good time 🙄 it’s all fiction at the end of the day 😂

[@julio1148]

The japanese community note to that post explains quite well why they are upset (multiple articles of interviews with developers claiming the game was historically accurate linked)

[@keiichi8191]

AC1: Set in the Middle East with a Middle Eastern protagonist. AC2: Set in Italy with an Italian protagonist. AC3: Set in North America with a Native American protagonist. AC Black Flag: Set in the East Indies with a Welsh pirate protagonist. AC Rogue: Set in the North Atlantic with an Irish-American protagonist. AC Unity: Set in France with a French protagonist. AC Syndicate: Set in Britain with British protagonists. AC Origins: Set in Egypt with an Egyptian protagonist. AC Odyssey: Set in Greece with a Greek protagonist. AC Valhalla: Set in Northern Europe with a Viking protagonist. AC Mirage: Set in the Middle East with a Middle Eastern protagonist. AC Shadows: Set in feudal Japan with an...African protagonist. One of these things is not like the others.

[@damgful]

It's interesting you decided to omit Revelations.

[@CHOHAN67]

@@damgful you notice how he also omitted the other protagonist of ac shadows? The Japanese one? These people just need something to be mad about. I’m a Ubisoft hater btw and have low expectations for this game. There’s plenty of other things to be mad about when it comes to the state of assassins creed and Ubisoft in general. This just isn’t it

[@conmeosangchan4274]

Naoe ??

[@-naiG]

I get what you are saying, but you actually have a Japanese protagonist. They also give you the option to choose, so you don't have to play with Yasuke if thats not your vibe. Besides why are people caring so much about this? If you want a game in feudal Japan with a male japanese character than just play Ghost of Tsushima and ignore Shadows...

[@jordandittman9474]

​@damgful yes, Ezio, an Italian man, was travelling to one the most popular tourist destinations of the 1500's. Not an openly xenophobic country that actively forbid most foreigners from even setting foot on the island, Japan in that time period. Those 2 things are not comparable. Constantinople had a large quantity of Italian immigrants. So many in face they actively had their own district. Your comment wasn't the gotcha you think it was.

[@CpZ-Z-Z]

Here is a CRAZY idea ...maybe, just maybe the entertainment industry, including games ...explore African history and mythology..instead of misplaced inserts. I would enjoy learning about that mythos

[@dormansutt8429]

ac origins exists you know

[@TFAric]

@@dormansutt8429 technically African but north Africa and sub-Saharan African is very different.

[@noamias4897]

@@TFAricno clearly Africa is one country with one people, there's no way to make a different game set in Africa! Never mind that AC Origins is set in Roman colonies.

[@65firered]

@@dormansutt8429 How many games do we have in Europe? In North America? Asia? We can have another one in Africa... Just keep Ubisoft Quebec as far away from that as possible.

[@ObiWanShinobi67]

@@noamias4897 Africa isn't a country.

[@cbtowers4841]

I don’t think the Japanese players initially had a problem with Yasuke as the main protagonist. It’s just when UBI’s Benoit and the Famitsu interviews came out, they claimed that Yasuke was a real samurai in Japan and that the game world was created to be historically accurate. So, naturally they started calling out inaccuracies in the game world, as well as Yasuke’s real background. That’s when Lockley’s book came up, because a lot of the people stressing that Yasuke was in fact a samurai, looked up Wiki, Britannica, Smithsonian (all of which were edited by Lockley himself) and UBI even featured him in a podcast. So then Japanese people suddenly became aware of how deep the rewriting of their history went. The national media outlet, NHK even made a documentary about him, his story had started making its way into Japanese textbooks, and whatnot. So, Assassin’s Creed was the catalyst for exposing all of these. That’s how it blew out of proportion. (Gotta admire the influence of games.) It wasn’t because they wanted to play a Japanese guy.

[@GothPaoki]

Historically accurate or not nobody would want to see ac oddysey with chinese protagonists. Greeks are still real and not mythology and they need to be represented accurately. I can see why Japanese are pissed.

[@justinhigginbottom8668]

There is a Japanese protagonist. And multiple AC protagonists are not native to there games locations

[@GothPaoki]

That's such a strawman. There's a Japanese character so let's gloss over the other one is not accurate but still presented as a samurai despite zero evidence he was a samurai.

[@GothPaoki]

Btw to what characters are you referring to?

[@Foul-TemperedRodent]

precisely ... some people here are thinking as an western and do not understand sooner or later it will happen to something we care about.

[@justinhigginbottom8668]

@@GothPaoki how is it a strawman? 💀 If your complaint is you don't want a main protagonist who's not native to that region. But your only issue is with yasuke. You're a blatant hypocrite. 1. Ezio shouldn't be the MC in revelations, after all, he's not from Constantinople! He's Italian! 2. We shouldn't have to play as haytham in the prologue of ac3, I don't wanna play a white man in indigenous America! 3. What's Edward doing in ac4?! He's Welsh! He shouldn't be in the West indies since he wasn't born there smh 4. Shay?? Why is he in the North American colonies?! He's Irish! 5. Omg not Jacob and Evie! They're Irish as well, why are they the protagonists of a game set in London?? 6. Eivor has no place in Europe. He's Norse! I want a European MC! Jokes aside. Did you ever once complain about these characters not being native to these locations? I doubt it. Because for them you can accept the fact people of there race DID exist in these locations. But for yasuke you're unable to accept that for some reason? Even though there IS a playable Japanese protagonist?

[@dragonhitman1071]

Basically saying we're sorry you japanese feel bad we're using your history without respect to it... we still gonna do it.

[@tarak950]

What aspect of this is disrespectful?

[@Desu-Desu-Chan-San]

@@tarak950 Probably the part where they used made up info about Yasuke, or stealing things to put in the game, or using a sword from One Piece and saying it was Yasuke's and so on... Lots of things

[@VaunShiz]

​@@tarak950Ooof

[@VaunShiz]

Yeah I think people are getting tired of liberals changing history to fit their political agenda

[@zan1thegreatest]

@@Desu-Desu-Chan-San😅😅its a gamee wt

[@Mordeusz2K]

This Yasuke samurai thing, he was or not, is smoke grenade. Assassin's Creed in Paris - main character is Parisian. AC in Egypt - Egyptian. AC in Greece - Greek. AC in Japan - Ubisoft says f*ck it. This is opposite of inclusiveness.

[@ciege7486]

Hell, assassin's creed in proto united states? Main character is Native American, and he's dope.

[@Amir-xe8qw]

@@Mordeusz2K so your ignoring Naoe

[@vault29a]

black flag - englishman in carrebian.

[@VeniVidiVici83]

AC in England - Norwegian AC in West Indies - Welsh AC in Constantinople - Italian Let’s not pretend they have a outsider explore the region you are playing

[@blaze595]

​@@VeniVidiVici83 The difference is that in those cases, there was clear precedence of those other cultures being in that place at that time. In this case they took the ONE notable African person in the history of a notoriously isolated culture, and decided to make him the protagonist (and notably being the FIRST protagonist based on a real person in the series). Not really the same thing.

[@mattwhitedev]

Imagine if in AC Origins (which is set in ancient egypt) the main character was a european white man named john smith that they found some vague reference to in a historic writing. He's now legendary egyption hero john smith, and in the game he murders his way through black people and then makes light fun banter aftwards. And he did it to country music. He killed black people to a garth brooks soundtrack. If that happened, would IGN be praising it for its historic nature or would everyone just be kind of gasping and ubisoft immediatey delaying the game 3 years to remove john smith? I think if you look at it that way it's easier to understand why some people had a weird reaction to this, whether yasuke is historically accurate or not.

[@coltonkisner1714]

Yep, completely agree. I actually hope they (Ubisoft) stay consistent and make a game set in Africa, with a white or Spanish playable character. It would only make sense and follow with the rules they are doing in this game. Every other AC you play as a person who fits that game, Valhalla, Norwegian Viking, AC3, Native American, Origins, Egyptian, Odyssey, Greek. It’s just so weird.

[@champton7106]

Stop being so soft Jesus. Why are ppl so sensitive? If you want that game... make it.

[@mattwhitedev]

@@champton7106 I'm not too invested in the topic, but I understand why some people (particularly japanese people) might feel weird about it

[@coltonkisner1714]

@@champton7106 every point that man typed was valid. Last time I checked the average consumer of video game material can’t afford to develop an open world assassins creed game. And as the consumer it’s completely in everyone’s right to either complain or hype the product they purchase. Grow above 6ft man. Keep kissing boot to companies that couldn’t care less about you but I think the majority of people would rather voice their concerns for material they enjoy in their free time especially when it’s actual garbage 🗑️ 😂

[@mattwhitedev]

@@champton7106 literacy is at an all time low here. I don't want that game, it would be a bad idea. I was trying to illustrate why some people feel weird about the choices around the game and what I perceive to be some hypocrisy among people who make/discuss games

[@armyofray8096]

If this was something that offended gays or blacks...man the tone would be Soo different

[@smacksavemarthaassociation5092]

Seriously if they had pulled a European dude with the same amount of historical precedent as Yasuke the entire internet would be jumping down their throats… but with Yasuke they just play the racism card if anyone complains. It’s ridiculous.

[@Eaawesome59]

@@smacksavemarthaassociation5092 I'd agree with you if there weren't people actually being racist, but there are people actually being racist

[@samuraijack1k997]

@@Eaawesome59 People will be racist, especially on the internet. But don't try to act as if this is the rule for every situation like this. What people are complaining is that they are claiming Yasuke being a samurai is historically accurate, while its up for debate at the very LEAST, and almost sure he wasn't a samurai, since the guy who started this topic basically invented this on his book and his japanese version of the book only talked about it being a "rumor" and not entirely true, because he knew he was making almost a fan fiction about Yasuke and people in Japan would get that. People on the West, however, don't care enough to go to the primary sources (aka, japanese historians) and trust anything any guy who has a degree says in a book. Anyone can write a book, make a documentary or whatever. But the claims done on those need to be backed up by primary sources, something that the guy didn't had.

[@TFAric]

@@samuraijack1k997 I would not want the character to be white. I think we can guarantee that Yasuke wasn't a samurai, if he was in Japan for 15 months there is no way he would be a real samurai, the training and just cultural things would take longer than that.

[@AzwraithPL]

Historical accuracy was never the primary point of outrage; it was just the justification that defenders of the game used to support the decision. The primary point of outrage fundamentally stemmed from a betrayal of consumer expectations. People have been waiting to play a ninja in an Assassin's Creed game set in feudal Japan for almost 20 years now, and when we finally did get a game set in feudal Japan instead of getting our ninja fantasy we got this completely different fantasy for extraneous corporate and political reasons. That's why people are mad. Them coming out now and acting as if the people critical of this decision are the unhinged ones because "it's not supposed to be historically accurate" after they've lost the veil of historical accuracy they were choosing to hide behind is completely disingenuous.

[@loudimes5502]

You said people wanted to fulfill their ninja fantasy but you can literally play as a Japanese woman as the ninja

[@AzwraithPL]

@@loudimes5502 Yeah, and if that were the full game you'd have a lot less pushback against it. You'd probably still have some eyerolls around forcing another female protagonist, but since kunoichi are a popular theme in media you'd have most people accept it without fuss. An African samurai, on the other hand, is just so thematically incongruent with what people were expecting from an Assassin's Creed set in Japan that it's broken their investment in it. The fact that the inclusion of this element was very obviously for corporate and politically ideological reasons that the majority of average consumers are burned out on just further adds fuel to the flames.

[@AzwraithPL]

Also apparently KZbin automatically filters my comment if I put the word black and the word samurai together so you can expect a lot of discourse surrounding this topic is being censored which further adds to player frustrations.

[@hansolokey]

@@AzwraithPLI can understand some people’s expectations for the game were different than what they’re getting, but just because someone isn’t getting to play out the exact “fantasy” that they dreamed about doesn’t mean there is a problem with the game. This is exactly why Luke talks about not getting hyped up about games, because you’re only gonna be disappointed. Especially if you’re creating a narrative in your head of what a game is gonna be before you’ve even seen a second of gameplay. Games aren’t meant to be for everyone, and that’s okay.

[@AzwraithPL]

@@hansolokey I mean, who's claiming otherwise? No one is saying Ubisoft is obligated to meet player expectations, but if their goal is to sell as many video games as possible and garner positive community sentiment towards their products and their brand like they suggested in their address to investors recently then it's probably a pretty good idea to do so. Just as a company isn't obligated to meet consumer expectations, consumers aren't obligated to buy or positively receive a product that doesn't meet their expectations.

[@BuiltNutritionFitness]

The protagonists feel like a modern Disney movie. We all know how Disney is doing these days…

[@blackRXrider]

So vote with your wallet and stop crying.

[@krs1297]

L take

[@sayLeotardbutsayitChinese]

@@blackRXrider or you can stop betching betch

[@lanceward540]

​@@krs1297how. He nailed it

[@65firered]

This is Ubisoft Quebec in a nutshell, don't expect it to improve.

[@zedospicos6571]

Why are we playing as a samurai in the first place? It's an assassin's creed game shouldn't we be playing as an assassin?

[@65firered]

Because we *need* two characters for two playstyles, nevermind that by default one character already allows both playstyles. And we certainly can't have the "samurai" be stealthy because no samurai could ever be a ninja, ignore any historical examples because that doesn't matter, it's fictional don't you know. Nevermind that we used a real person.

[@DayBlueberry-F]

Naoe is right there, like come on, she is amazing at stealth if people can't even see her on the cover of every promo art, you can play as an assassin in Japan and for the majority of the game as well if you choose.

[@thecompanioncube4211]

From what we gathered from AC Valhalla, no. No we are way past Assassin's creed game being a Assassin's creed game

[@Symbiote-Man]

@@DayBlueberry-FI bet you wouldn’t have said any of that if this was in Odyssey or Valhalla. The main argument was always “there should be assassins in assassin’s creed!” Now it’s “well, one is enough!”

[@65firered]

@@DayBlueberry-F You understand that doesn't change any of the criticism. Yasuke and the criticism about him doesn't disappear because there's another character, especially when you have to play both. Besides, if you were stuck with one then Yasuke can only do one playstyle while Naoe can do both. And the best part, you have highlighted why it would be better if she was the only choice with the game as it is.

[@fdsbot]

Remember when they removed the crossbow from AC1 because it was not historically accurate?

[@whitest_rabbit69]

No

[@justinhigginbottom8668]

That didn't happen. They fully intended to have the crossbow and removed it because it trivialized most of there set pieces. Ac1 has literal wizards and aliens in it brother.

[@dawodakah7745]

@@fdsbot remember when you fight the final boss in that game as he does shadow clones Justus.

[@maxhernandez239]

@@fdsbot there’s some truth in that but it’s mostly because they couldn’t get it to work in the games engine

[@Mitch93636]

There was never any plans for a crossbow in AC1.

[@curiouslymotivated1607]

Talk about their previous posts about how they keep promoting him as a historical samurai. Stop doing the bare minimum.

[@m4nt1c0r3s]

Thats the typical reaction for these activists, they will double and triple down on how everything is based on history, find some "experts" that support their claims, but then the second the pushback becomes too great and their lies start to crumble will always hide behind the "its fiction" cop out and start claiming they are being victims of online hate.

[@Israfel36]

Smaller audience that way

[@Symbiote-Man]

That would Luke to be critical of his own views. But he’s only ever critical of others.

[@GothPaoki]

So basically ubisoft said we're sorry but we're not sorry!!

[@gaiarailink]

Corporate for 'go f#@& yourself'

[@Mitch93636]

You should ALWAYS trust Ubisoft.

[@trevoroliveira2588]

They have nothing to be sorry for

[@Mitch93636]

@@trevoroliveira2588You should ALWAYS trust Ubisoft.

[@blackvalio4060]

​@@trevoroliveira2588 how to be wrong

[@sergioajbs1840]

*rap beats starts playing* YoU aRe RcIst iF YOu dOnt lIke IT

[@DayBlueberry-F]

Not a rap beat. Did people forget when Naoe started being a badass in the Cinematic Announcement Trailer they started a dope soundtrack for her as well? Was that just conveniently forgotten? It's just modern music in the game, it's not the first AC game to have modern music, and it's not gonna kill your game if it's there

[@PervySage723]

​@@DayBlueberry-Fit was a rap beat

[@doggodproductions2259]

That music is literally just a hip-hop trap beat, with a sampled Japanese string instrument playing over top of it. Samples + trap beats = modern pop and hip-hop music. That music choice is ridiculous. Also, 99% of modern music is garbage, it shouldn't be used in anything that doesn't want to age like milk. It's just terrible, lazy music direction. A decision made by someone with zero taste and made with zero effort. It's shit.

[@noamias4897]

If you're talking about trailer music, I'd argue, as a Swede with interest in Viking history and culture, that Valhalla is a fantastic Viking fantasy game. Despite that, they used some house music in its first trailer. That's just what they do, and while I don't like the music choices in their trailers it never reflects the games.

[@doggodproductions2259]

@noamias4897 It wasn't the trailer music, cause yeah, they do that corny shit all the time. No, people are talking about the gameplay clips, as soon as "Yasuke" gets in a fight, this insanely corny crap starts playing. It makes the whole thing feel like some kind of 70s blaxploitation film, except it's taking itself seriously. Nothing like Valhalla. Most of that music was fairly fitting of the environment if I remember (I never finished that one). This music for Shadows makes no sense though. It's like giving Miles Morales an afro on his suit just because he's black.

[@CluelessEugene]

The more I think about it having someone that doesn’t fit the race for the location of time period would not be an ideal way to be an assassin is not a logical choice for being an assassin… He would stick out like a sore thumb. Moreover, when I lived in Japan people were usually excited to see people who were different from their own people. I do think Yasuke is a poor choice for a assassin because he would be too recognizable to be an ESPECIALLY for this time period but including him in the story would be a great addition to the story but not as one of the main characters.

[@indiscretion.]

Good thing Yasuke isn't an assassin in the game.

[@Desu-Desu-Chan-San]

@@indiscretion. Yeah, he is a hip hop samurai instead lol

[@ciege7486]

​​@@indiscretion. Yeah, he's not an assassin.... he's just one of the assassin's...... well that might get confusing

[@coltonkisner1714]

Who did we play as in Assassins creed 3, a Native American, who do we play in Origins, an Egyptian, Valhalla, a Norwegian Viking, Odyssey, two Greek characters, Assassins Creed 2-Revelations, a Florence man, my only question is why do this for the Japanese setting? I really hope Ubisoft gives us an African setting with a white protagonist or how about a Spanish conqueror of the upper regions? They have to. It’s only consistent with how they are doing shadows. I’m sure people would all collectively flip out. It’s all good though since this character is a minority but watch how quick the script would flip if you reversed the location and the skin color that everyone is against!

[@syd4n]

You never played a real historical figure before..why now? We all know why

[@justinhigginbottom8668]

Because he's a cool figure 🙏

[@maeryk2860]

@@justinhigginbottom8668 Yes. A retainer that was brought to Japan because Nobunaga wanted to see what a black man looked like. So very cool. 🙄

[@D4C_LoveTrain1]

​@@maeryk2860don't be a tard.

[@lastdefenderofxhotl]

Yeah, because Yasuke is a cool and well liked figure in Japan, and using him allows them to create a narrative around him that's meaningfully distinct from the one they're telling with Naoe (would have been otherwise impossible to create one with such a juxtaposition without running into the same complaints Yasuke is recieving), and all of that is ultimately in service of the gameplay design. The major problem for AC titles of the last decade has been in regards to the gameplay design. The reason they went the RPG route was because the OG AC formula was getting stale, and they found immense success in going the RPG route. Origins and Odyssey were both very well recieved with great sales numbers and review scores, with Odyssey being a game of the year contender. Valhalla sold exceedingly well as well. It just didn't review quite as well for reasons... Shadows is the first game to use dual protagonists in a way that meaningfully serves the gameplay. Naoe is a return to OG AC with a heavy emphasis on expanding stealth and traversal, and Yasuke allows them to maintain the RPG style combat for the AC fans who've become fond of it. So yeah, we know exactly why they did it. It's because it's the thing that intrigued them as artists and is allowing them to deliver the best game.

[@justinhigginbottom8668]

@@maeryk2860 he was also his personal bodyguard and weapon bearer. Incredibly respected duties. Well yasuke never saw battle in real life. And wasn't a warrior. He had an important role and it's fun to see stories implement him as a concept.

[@Jr_TopG]

What made it worse is that Yasuke has little to no parkour and stealth in a freaking "ASSASSIN'S CREED" Game

[@PetiHuber]

Choosing the one and only black man from thousands of years of Japanese history is just bizarre. Like, you could have chosen anyone. Why can't just the developers admit, yes we chose him for the sake of inclusivity, instead of gaslighting fans who question this decision.

[@shambles2723]

AC elitists complain too much about AC games not being AC games anymore and Ubisoft trolling those elitists is pure entertainment lol

[@therandompineapple3805]

Assassin's Creed has had some level of historical authenticity in most of the games except for Valhalla, but it's never been the main selling point and Ubisoft may have felt more inclined to apologize for this game than Warner Bros did about Hogwarts legacy because this game is navigating the Waters of a different culture

[@smellthensing2221]

No other Assassin's Creed game featured a real-life figure as the playable character. So why this one?

[@lawrencehaynes6408]

Why not? And why do you care?

[@ciege7486]

​@@lawrencehaynes6408why not? God, that is such a great reason to do anything. Especially decisions that have to do with massive multi million dollar companies.

[@kaustavdas436]

@@lawrencehaynes6408 why the backlash if people didnt care lol,are u going to use the racist card now?

[@Roe777]

Ubisoft thinks that Japanese men are not manly enough so they put in a big strong african man suited for combat

[@TheSteelmushroom]

Asmongold did complain more about the price of the extra DLC content, early access and season pass being $60 more isn't worth the price. I would agree with him on that front and at that point you're just straight up donating Ubisoft extra money.

[@Foul-TemperedRodent]

That's whole different on going problem with Ubisoft my friend .. but he's right its more traction for westerns then Japanese culture being drag though the dirt

[@TheSteelmushroom]

@Foul-TemperedRodent Yeah, I've heard that they've done this before with Odyssey, and while it is a completely optional. But if you want that DLC content, then it's quite pricy unless you cancel with the Ubisoft+ after playing it quickly.

[@m4nt1c0r3s]

asmon in his typical lazy zero research way tried to argue that the politics around AC shadows were there intentionally and just to distract from the prices, which is a dumb point to make if you took few minutes to research what kind of people have been working for Ubisoft and most western game developers recently he should easily deduct that its all about activism for them.

[@TheSteelmushroom]

@@m4nt1c0r3s I don't think he said that. I remember him saying when Ubisoft first announced it before the apology that the prices were far more concerning then them stretching historical accuracy and that he didn't care about that as much.

[@scarhead91]

Ac games aren’t historically accurate but they usually get things like architecture, correct. To mix Chinese and Japanese architecture is a bad omen

[@stormstrider]

Most people don't care Yasuke was black or the want to make him a samurai. The problem was, they tried to pass it off as historical fact and started an editing war on wiki. This led to the historian who had been fabricating Yasuke's past based off three documents on Japanese records, going into hiding and Japanese historians stepping in to set records straight. Then, like you said- anyone calling out criticism being called racist.

[@UnusualScape]

It's funny how it's not supposed to be historically accurate... yet they chose a real person to play as and decided to give him a sexual preference.

[@plankton2878]

where did this idea of yasuke being gay come because i haven’t seen that anywhere?

[@UnusualScape]

@plankton2878 woahhh. Good thing this isn't Twitter, they'd be jumping down your throat by now lol. Not necessarily gay, bi. Just look up Yasuke LGBT representation and you'll see articles and videos laying out all that crap (being they assigned Yasuke an LGBT sexuality when he actually had a wife).

[@lucaleone4331]

@@UnusualScape Pretty sure you can be gay with a wife, and definitely bi with a wife. But I also havent heard anything about his sexuality.

[@UnusualScape]

@lucaleone4331 oh I'm sure that can be the case in some instances, in fact I'm sure there's a lot of people who are unfortunately stuck in that position, afraid of accepting who they truly are. However in this case, the fact they are purposely turning a real life character into someone that he wasn't, just to fit their narrative without a single bit of historical fact or evidence to back it up, or what they're really doing, rewriting history, well that's a very scummy thing to do, regardless of who they're sexuality swapping. It'd be like someone making a movie saying Freddy Mercury was straight.

[@Dommmmmmmmm]

I think there’s some ppl out there that dislike this for the right reasons and some that dislike it for the wrong reasons. Some might be just racist, Ik shocker. Some may actually feel offended in which case, I mean why? But others like me may just feel like “Hey, we got a Japanese based AC for the first time ever. That being said, it’d be cool to actually have Japanese protagonists considering the theme and location”. And I’m already aware of the “B-b-but the shinobi is Japanese!” Doesn’t really change things in my view. Also, just imagine instead of this we got a white Caucasian assassin in Africa. It’d be different right?

[@garrytalaroc]

Ubisoft: “We’re sorry” Japan: “For what?” Ubisoft: “times are tough”

[@sofa_sith_lord6772]

Every other AC game has had protagonists reflective of the people that lived in those settings. They didn't have a Native American running around Budapest. Or a Miyan running around in England surrounded by nordic vikings. This was obviously done for ESG brownie points.

[@eduardblackbeard3913]

The audience is not split by people who care about historical accuracy. Ubisoft brought up historical accuracy to try to justify their decisions. The fans are pointing out, this too is bs.

[@craigmorrison4016]

Ubisoft had sooooo many other options with Yasuke to make him a memorable part of Shadows. Like, have Yasuke actively hunt you as you play through the game and fight against Odas men. Make him an intimidating and lethal enemy that you have to run from whenever you encounter him. Kinda like the Phylake, Mercenaries, and Zealots from the previous games. Only once you have played through the story and leveled up are you able to confront Yasuke. Make him a challenging boss with like 3 stages. He could use a Yari/Naginata then switch to a Tetsubo/Kanobo and then finally a Katana in final stage. He could have been a loyal servant of Oda, willing to die for him, bc Oda honored him with a stipend and land. He could have been so cool man.

[@sadarumhogai9337]

At this point ubisoft is so dumb not including a character creator in ac games

[@thatguywhoplaysgames9496]

If people in villages bowed it’s because they didn’t want to get killed by a hot headed samurai, samurai were rarley to Nobel warriors we make them out to be, but many were hired thugs who got to enjoy luxuries due to rank… like testing blades on a live person if they wished and stealing daughters. Samurai were feared for the lower classes and for good reason.

[@mr.zwilliams7389]

Yasuke wasn’t a Samurai, the Japanese government stepped in and confirmed this. The depiction of Yasuke as a samurai was published fiction by Thomas Lockley whom was also the culprit that got busted changing the Wikipedia to attempt to sell it as historical fact. Japan specifically highlighted that Yasuke lacks a surname and was never recorded as a Samurai. They also went on to highlight that rice is harvested in Autumn not Spring. Ubisoft is now backpedaling from initially advertising Yasuke as a factual representation of the real life counterpart. Yasuke did exist but as a envoy to Oda Nobunaga.

[@isahjabea7402]

@@mr.zwilliams7389 whether he is a samurai or not am going to enjoy this game

[@Morkins324]

The Japanese government has done no such thing. One fringe representative is not indicative of the entire government. It'd be like claiming that the US Government confirmed something just because Marjorie Taylor Greene said some crackpot thing on Twitter. As for the surname thing, I don't believe you understand Japanese history. Like almost every single one of these claims that is purporting as "proof" that he wasn't a samurai, it completely lacks any understanding of the timeline of Japanese history. The "Surname" significance as it relates to samurai DID NOT EXIST UNTIL THE LATE 17TH CENTURY DURING THE EDO PERIOD. Same applies to the significance of having or not having two swords as it relates to samurai. Both of these things came to be synonymous with samurai during the Edo Period because of laws that were enacted that outlawed non-Samurai from using them. However, that was a creation of the Edo Period and the Tokugawa Shogunate, not something that had always been true regard samurai of prior eras. Yasuke lived during the Sengoku Period. The Sengoku Period was a time of massive social, political and military upheaval. It was basically 200 years of non-stop civil war. During the Sengoku Period, "Samurai" did not mean anything in particular. It generally referred to the warrior servants/retainers of a ruling lord. In terms of the literal meaning of the word "Samurai", the kanji for samurai is 侍 which literally means "to serve" or "Servant". 侍女 means Maid (or literally "Servant Woman"). 侍医 means Court Physician (translated the kanji literally is "to serve medicine" or "Servant Doctor"). Samurai was not necessarily used a descriptor of position/status at that point. In the hierarchy of Japanese society there were daimyo, ashigaru, shugodai, hatamoto, bushi, koshō, etc. However, "Samurai" wasn't used in such a structured way. Nobody was explicitly "recorded as a samurai" at that time in history. Defining whom in the hierarchy is a samurai and who is not was simply not something that was done in Sengoku Period Japan. It was just generally understood that if you were a warrior/soldier that served a ruling lord, then you were a samurai. The stratification and formalization of the modern concept of samurai occurred later in the Edo Period. Almost all warrior/soldier retainers of a Daimyo would have been considered samurai during the Sengoku Period. Yasuke served a role within Nobunaga's court that would have almost universally been held by a koshō under normal circumstance. And koshō are most certainly samurai.

[@mr.zwilliams7389]

@@isahjabea7402 That leads me to a completely different issue many have, including myself. Games got too much cut content for its special edition for an extra $60 to the price tag. I refuse to buy these games from Ubisoft because of this sleazy practice.

[@isahjabea7402]

@@mr.zwilliams7389 well then if your concern is really the price just wait about a month or so after launch by then you'll get better deals

[@mr.zwilliams7389]

@@isahjabea7402 I’ll wait until all of its content is released and its price tags is $20 in a couple years. I can wait, it doesn’t look any better than the average Ubisoft shovelware.

[@BabblingBrookss]

One can argue that changing things about an actual historical character can cause issues where as the wizard pope and cyclops’ are very apparently fantasy. But a slight change like making Yasuke an actual Samurai can be believable thus changing history for a lot of people.

[@YoY187]

2012? Boy we were talking about assassin Ninjas in Japan after AC1. Deciphering all the codes in that last room at Abstergo.

[@abc4781]

Yasuke is honestly the least of this games problems, if this game sucks, it isn't going to be because of Yasuke.

[@theblackknight101]

The only problem in all this is Ubisoft being inconsiderate and not respecting the intelligence of their audience.. hope the backlash grows.

[@SynchroUEHLNFX]

Remind you, a lot of people being fooled by a white guy who made a fanfic about Yasuke being a samurai using the little information we have on him and literally made that wikipage relevant. Also he deleted all his social media, so that tells you something

[@victory7763]

Yeah it tell you he was harassed to no end. And the harassment didn't start any sooner than the announcement of AC Shadows

[@KiLlACaMrOn94]

I don’t remember reading about Connor Kenway, Altair, Ezio Auditore, Haytham, or Edward Kenway in my history books. I don’t remember all of these historical figures that do appear in AC doing all this crazy stuff that they’ve done or gotten assassinated. You can pretend all you want that people are upset with this for the “right” reasons but, there are no right reasons. If you don’t think Sasuke should be the MC, you are not inherently racist. It’s all the other shit that gets thrown in with it that makes it racist. Especially not thinking that they can tell a good story with a Black lead. Excluding how they’ve already forgotten how to tell good stories for too long now. It’s just ridiculous.

[@BramTheDemon]

If Yasuke had been a side character similar to other real historical figures from previous AC games, I doubt many would have cared. But, having him be one of the central protagonists in a game set in Japan, it doesn't exactly present the best image. It would have been better to have the only character be the female assassin while Yasuke would be a reoccurring character that pops up from time to time to lend a hand.

[@samuraijack1k997]

Ubisoft is afraid of putting out a main AC game with a female protagonist only. AC Odyssey, for example, they treat Kassandra as the "canon" protagonist in the books, but you can play as Alexius in the game if you want to, because they were too afraid of only putting Kassandra as a single protagonist, like Bayek was on Origins. Same thing with Valhalla and in that game you can even switch out from Male Eivor to Female Eivor on the go, they didn't even cared, it made the character not seem as a character and only as a self insert of the player, which if it was a RPG similar to Elden Ring or Skyrim with a silent protagonist it would be fine, but they went for the Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher approach and that didn't worked with this. V and Geralt are their own characters, even male V vs female V have their own personality.

[@michaeljamesm]

unfortunately gamers are more sexist than they are racist the amount of people straight up refusing to believe Naoe can be a compelling character is actually depressing I wish the game would just release so people can stop

[@samuraijack1k997]

@@michaeljamesm They think that because Ubisoft doesn't have a good track record in its writing. Its serviceable at best. And no, the majority of people that think that isn't sexist. Of course there are people that are sexist and will hate any female character no matter how good written they are, but if you think thats the majority of people, you're trying to simplify in a way it fits your world view and you can't analyze things rationally.

[@ThomasM936]

​@@samuraijack1k997I would love to know how you came to the conclusion that most of the community isn't sexist. Would also love to know where the line for you is between criticism and racism/sexism. I promise you, most bigots will not admit they are one openly.

[@samuraijack1k997]

@@ThomasM936 Because I'm a part of the community. Sexism is: "I'm not a fan of this character BECAUSE they are a woman" While a valid criticism is: "I'm not a fan of this character because I didn't liked the way they written them" it's very simple and easy to understand.

[@ShootEvrythg]

If someone buys an Ubisoft game at launch in 2024, they are just not very smart.

[@ndubuisiamadi]

This outrage with Yasuke is just so dumb. Playing a historical character shouldn't be a problem but let's ignore the assassin which is a Japanese native because she's a woman. I wonder if the outrage would be this intense if the assassin was a Japanese man.

[@eliseekazumba5333]

I partly agree that the outrage wouldn't be as big if there was a Japanese man alongside Yasuke. But Ubisoft underestimated peoples desire to play as a Japanese man over a woman or a black man. In each game we had men native to the location except this one. The lack of a Japanese man is the real hidden problem

[@michaeljamesm]

right wing gamers don’t want to have to choose between playing as wOMeN or cOlorEd :0 they can’t decide which is worse

[@notgeneralsnaz]

Nothing about this really matters to me, I just think Yasuke is a funny choice as an assassin. Man 1: OMG I just saw that magistrate get assassinated by a samurai! Man 2: It's gonna be hard to find identify the killer, with all these samurai around. Man 1: Actually, it's gonna be super easy, barely an inconvience.

[@jesusgaston3457]

Luke you are forgetting that Kim belair said they threaten people to get what they want and we have seen it with articles for games like stellar blade and wukong and also you forgot that for buildings and people assassin's Creed mostly always been historically correct to even that they were praise to be the only way to look the cathedral of Notre Dame how it was before burning down was in assassin's Creed unity and now in this one they even messed up building I'm one of the fans that I'm not going to play this game or maybe if I find it used to not give Ubisoft money

[@ibleminen]

pretty sure brotherhood also was praised as architecturally as a good representation of Ancient Rome.

[@_Sevren_]

@@ibleminen basically every ac game before Valhalla did a relatively good job

[@agungnugroho9836]

Why have Ubisoft admitted that they were wrong but still continue the Assassin's Creed Shadow game with Yasuke as the main character even though it is clear that Yasuke is not a samurai? All information obtained from Wikipedia is lies. why not just try an original Japanese character as the main character like - Takeda Shingen - Uesugi Kenshin - Tokugawa - Date Masamune - Sanada Yukimura - Maeda Keiji - Hatori Hanzo and other Japanese generals

[@JackmanC]

AC has always been about taking history and changing it in interesting ways to account for the assassin and templar lore. Even though we have never played as a historical figure before, doesn't mean it is strange for them to take creative liberties with a real person. Every single historical figure ever put into the games is inherently inaccurate and intentionally altered. So I don't think there is a problem with making Yasuke a samurai, for one it is more interesting from a gameplay perspective and for two it could make for an interesting meta narrative where he was a samurai in the AC universe but his history was erased by the templars. They really didn't need to apologize for this, it is pretty blown out of proportion.

[@KEVERIANC]

Great point agreed

[@the_articulated_artist]

I agree

[@hansolokey]

@@JackmanC very true

[@cornerstoredrugs389]

Agreed

[@immersion9880]

It’s not about if he was a samurai or not. It’s the double standard. If they made an AC in Africa and one of the protagonists was white, there would be an outrage - and I wouldn’t blame them. One scenario is fine and the reverse isn’t.

[@gagewesterhouse9558]

Okay, but AC has never DIRECTLY CONTRADICTED historical fact. It has always been a work of fiction, but set in a historically accurate backdrop. They've always built their stories AROUND history. They've always limited themselves to building their fiction in the gray areas of history. That's not what they're doing now. Also, almost all credible sources say that Yasuke was NOT a Samurai. They found one of the only people claiming he was, and he's already been outed as having MADE UP much of his book about Yasuke. AC has always heavily featured real historical figures. I like that. It's part of AC's identity as a franchise. But they have always made the player character a FICTIONAL person who never actually existed. This is, I believe, how they've managed to be so historically accurate while also making very compelling stories. On top of those BIG problems, there's also the allegations that the architecture in the game is NOT actually Japanese, but CHINESE. I remember when the Notre Dame Cathedral burned down, and Ubisoft donated their 3D imagining of it to help rebuild it. Ubisoft is clearly not remotely as concerned with being true to history as they were in the earlier AC games. They now fine directly contradicting our best knowledge of historical fact. The whole Yasuke thing is the main problem I have. Although I'm not TOO worried about AC Shadows in this regard, as Yasuke was a very historically insignificant person, and not much is known about him, I'm concerned about the PRECEDENT it sets for future games. I'm worried that, eventually, AC is going to turn into the video game equivalent of 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'.

[@VanityOfEliCLee]

So, you think that an assassin beat the shit out of a pope, that Knights Templar fought a group of assassins over alien technology, and that Spartans fought real life minotaurs, or that Atlantis was real?

[@65firered]

​@@VanityOfEliCLeeIf the Pope of Michaelangelo and not Rodrigo Borgia then you'd be getting closer.

[@xShikari]

It's a french company, so of course they'd help with Notre Dame and are more connected to their home than to a random country.

[@F34RDSoldier805]

@@VanityOfEliCLee Oh look, another disengenuous argument that doesn't understand what "historical fiction" means and use strawman fantasy plot points to completely misdirect from all the shit that is and always has been historically accurate in the games, which the games still had a ton of historical accuracy outside the plot. But keep being dishonest.

[@gagewesterhouse9558]

@@xShikari how... how is that supposed to be a response to my post????

[@Jr_TopG]

Im a black man and i truly believe Yasuke should not be the second protagonist, it should have been another japanese protagonist

[@F34RDSoldier805]

They WALKBACK what they've been saying about Yasuke being a samurai being "fact". They've had multiple occasions saying that the game was historically accurate and a lot of the game was based on fact. So they lied. They even had on their site saying the game is about "the real legendary samurai Yasuke". So them saying it's full fantasy and the rhetoric that they always said it was full fantasy is complete BS. Also, I wish more people understood what "historical fiction" is. They know what their doing when they say the game is historical fiction, but a lot of people are so focused on the "fiction" part and completely misunderstand what the genre is. AC as a franchise was built on the historical fiction genre.

[@Taintedwings4444]

There is nothing wrong with labelling it as a historical fiction but that doesn’t excuse them from certain responsibilities such as not making Japanese people bow every time he walks by; fall vegetations and fruits shouldn’t flow on the same screen as spring ones; don’t use Chinese architecture when showcasing a Japanese setting. Some things need to be accurate and true to form. When creating a game based on someone’s culture, respect should be baseline. Why is that a hard concept to grasp? Odyssey and Origins was a point of pride for me as a gamer and fan of the series because their discovery modes were used as a teaching tool in schools and classrooms. That was a big step for video games. From that to this was beyond disappointment for me.

[@ExpectedBoy]

The amount of crybabies upset that a game, which like most games and movies has the disclaimer about things that are similar to historical stuff being coincidental is so laughable. Its a game. Grow up.

[@_Sevren_]

Don’t question or challenge media. Just consume

[@Laevatheinn]

Not just any lord picked up Yasuke but the famous/infamous Oda Nobunaga

[@LocSec]

Money talks, talk with your money.

[@andyl2599]

Luke is one of those that dont understand people complaining about the accuracy while there are fantasy things happening. As you read through the "apology", they at the very least are trying to represent the country and the culture, while on top of that they give you super power and monsters, but it fail apart when your "representation" not even have the right architecture, right art, right culture right every details. Like if you are playing Origin and they have the mayan pyramid instead of the egypt pyramid, and Luke respond is "there are dragons flying around what do you expect?".

[@AtypicalWarrior]

How about we focus on if the game is even good???????

[@lilautistico1635]

I get peoples reasoning but I can’t find myself saying it’s a valid reason to be legitimately upset with it if especially if you’re not even going to play the game. It’s really just blown out of proportion. I get the game is taking place in a historical setting but it’s still a fictional video game not a documentary. Instead of researching historical facts on Yasuke just research the actual series of assassins creed. My point is that The protagonist should be assassins in assassins creed and the samurai were honorable warriors that didn’t agree with killing people in stealth they rather fight people head on with honor. Making the protagonist a foreigner would make more sense from a narrative perspective to write a samurai defecting to the Assassins. It’s an assassins creed game not a samurai game there’s no reason to get mad because there’s plenty of other samurai games. Nobunaga’s samurai were known for burning villagers down and killing innocents doing anything for the unification of Japan under him. This aligns with the Templar ideology perfectly. Idk why people are getting mad that the samurai are being depicted as villains in the game. Where do you think Ninjas come from? They became a thing to protect themselves from the samurai their weapons literally evolved from farm tools. So getting mad at historical inaccuracy in the game is dumb because the only thing historically inaccurate I’ve seen so far are the plants growing in wrong seasons and Yasuke being a samurai shd walking around in his armour which really isn’t a stretch for a video game.

[@corey552]

Its literally too easy to just do MCs that is the demographic of the natural culture and have Yasuke show up as a supporting character. Why would they make him a MC? In feudal Japan? It literally makes no logical sense. Editing this comment because the idiots are now finding this. Anyone who thinks Yasuke being a Samurai in a feudal Japan game is ok, wouldve 100% lost their shit if they changed out Bayek for a white european.

[@abelchavez2463]

Because he's cool, not to mention they do have an MC as the ninja character. What are u saying ????

[@darryljack6612]

But... They literally have that. Naoe is (with the hidden blade and hood) the titular assassin and is Japanese.

[@44zeex]

You mean like Naoe?

[@D4C_LoveTrain1]

​@@darryljack6612"women don't count" - those guys 😭

[@PervySage723]

@@abelchavez2463 is he cool? Hes some random dude with almost 0 history behind him. I feel like hes cool to you because hes black lol

[@locdogg86]

Haaaard disagree with the ghost comparison. I think if you had an ac in Japan with asraf ismail directing it, tonally and historically it would blow ghost out of the water. Ghost is so full of 80’s kung fu ninja “ you have a no honor” energy.

[@jasongurney4620]

this the exact reason every other main character is completely fictional smh

[@robertallen4685]

I honestly would definitely be buying this if there was a Japanese guy to play as. Since there isn't, i don't anticipate buying at all

[@kenchie3513]

"Nothing is true, everything is permitted"

[@Caesar2001]

Anyone who has a wikipedia account make sure you edit it to piss these history revisionists off

[@marconeves1979]

No no no.... Yasuke is supposed to be a "samurai" AND Gay. Bc ya know, for Ubisoft.... no virtue signaling is ever enough. Oh, oh, oh and so is Naoe! Inclusivity is now becoming exclusivity.... literally.

[@Peetizzle]

THANK YOU for saying what needed to be said!

[@StillLateToTheParty]

I’ve lived in Japan for decades. Since this “controversy” started, I’ve been asking Japanese people their thoughts on Yasuke, and they say “Who?”, and their thoughts on AC Shadows, and they say “What?” Nobody cares about this in Japan. It’s all engagement farming for online bros… stirring the pot to create a pseudo outrage they can chirp about on their channels for views…

[@shambles2723]

I also noticed that people who complains about the issue were mostly whites

[@notawehraboo6159]

I don't care if one of the protagonists is black, I just want a good video game

[@plankton2878]

I don’t care about Yasuke being one of the protagonists but I’m starting to think they should’ve just saved themselves the trouble and gone the safe route. This was never going to go over well, even with Naoe as the game’s Japanese representation.

[@Remi-bo7tn]

they take risks with stupid things like this, but their gameplay remains the same bland thing over the last 10 years. They should be taking those risks in other places.

[@Tuntira]

​@@Remi-bo7tn THIS is the actually thing that people should be getting annoyed with! I mean if had to resin Yasuke and make HIM Japanese and touch nothing else (maybe some dialog) then the game would still play the same (whether bad or good).... People are weird

[@michaeljamesm]

I much prefer people showing their true colours and being proudly against women and coloured in games. making games ‘politically safe’ is pandering to them

[@plankton2878]

@@michaeljamesm heavily agree with that last statement. it just gets exhausting ://

[@dustinhenderson5199]

The people that are calling it out, were 100% not going to play the game anyways.

[@Dommmmmmmmm]

Speak for yourself

[@kurosumomo]

It's quite simple really. What is the first thing that comes to mind when I give you the key words "Feudal Japan", is it an African Samurai, or is it a Japanese Samurai and Shinobi. Just this fact alone, that they chose to make Yasuke as a protagonist in the Sengoku era Japan is really on the nose, they were always making the protagonist fit the era and location of the setting, fictional or not. There was no Chinese protagonist in AC:Origins, there was no Arab protagonist in AC 3, etc. Now they suddenly pull the only historically recorded black man from Mozambique in Japan and make it a protagonist, what else is that but pandering. It's like giving you key words "France; World War I" - Your first thoughts wouldn't be Chinese army men right? But there were 140,000 Chinese soldiers in Europe during that time doing all sorts of tasks on the front, mostly engineering, but also some fighting. And this were 140,000 Chinese men, not just one Chinese guy, like is the instance with Yasuke. So really, Ubisoft isn't fulling anyone on why they picked Yasuke. And as you said they definitively said he is based on historical facts as well as his Samurai status, which they are no back-pedaling. There also a ton of other cultural errors, ranging from small to big, like the Chinese lanterns in Japan and incense sticks in the wrong religious places, to wrong lettering and all of that. If Ubisoft wanted really bad to make a game about Yasuke, they should just have made a game called Yasuke and made up their own story, similar to Nioh or similar games. Never touch the words, historical accuracy and they would be fine, but for AC:Shadows they should just stuck to protagonists from that nation people, like they did with every AC game so far.

[@justinhigginbottom8668]

Multiple AC games see you playing as a person who's not native to that location? Edward is Welsh in the West indies, shay is Irish in the North Atlantic, the Frye's are Irish in London, was ezio is Italian in Constantinople, and eivor is Norse in Europe "But those ethnicities existed in those areas!" And yasuke existed in Japan?

[@DayBlueberry-F]

​@@justinhigginbottom8668Exactly this! Great reply! Not to mention Naoe is right there, you can play the majority of the game only as her if you so wish, she is such a good shinobi that none of these people complaining about the game ever notice her

[@kurosumomo]

@@justinhigginbottom8668 These are semantics for the sake of semantics. Norse = Europe, Vikings were pushing down Europe pretty frequently, also Italians/Romans were pushing down the African continent. And for the golden age of piracy, most buccaneers were either Spanish, Portuguese, or from the British Isles, including Ireland. Americans need to learn their history first before trying to lecture people on this nonsense. All of those characters had reasons to be there, you know colonization all that from history that Americans still haven't moved past, Yasuke was a slave deckhand brought to Japan by the Portuguese, he wasn't a buccaneer from Mozambique that raided the Japanese archipelago for hundreds of years like the British and Spanish did in the Caribbean, nor was he conquering lands like the Romans did in Africa. Irish person in London is like saying Ainu in Tokyo, it's not controversial, what would be controversial would be a Mexican in London. If you can't see a difference, between a person from a nation that is two day horse ride away from the location this is supposed to be happening and a person a four month ship ride away on the other half of the planet. I can not help you to understand this issue. You had Romanian people in London too at that time, it wouldn't be problematic, they're all European and Europeans were traveling all around Europe, and as said because of colonization, all across the world.

[@jhitcho2026]

I don't care what gender a MC is or if a dev wants to make their own story with likenesses of historic persons or events. Buy it or don't lol. What's this really about?

[@manofhoff2623]

there is more of a chance that Yasuke never existed, than him being a samurai or anything close to one

[@jmnuy9370]

Playing as Yasuke is the least problem of all it’s about stolen artwork katana from one piece banners from group who reenacts battles artifacts that Ubisoft had no right to use in the game second thing is how come no one is saying that Ubisoft is racist they have game in feudal Japan and then they decide to use rap music of all and only near the black character it’s fucking stupid another thing is the disrespect shown by sending Japanese people pre release boxes in mandarin language and there is more I just don’t have more letters to use

[@DelaV3]

We wuz samurai!

[@jhyarellesilver8397]

Yasuske is a Schrodinger's samurai.

[@euroking1337]

Such a goofy company for doing this.

[@nikolaig1]

For what???😅😅😅

[@Dommmmmmmmm]

@@nikolaig1for making the protagonist black in a Japan setting. U need someone to spell if out for u? Let’s take AC to Africa if we want black protagonists. That fucking simple.

[@dandreharris636]

I like how Egypt is the only part of Africa that black people aren’t allowed to claim heritage.

[@Arcademan09]

Please talk about the "historian" for Yasuke got caught using Wikipedia as his source for the book he wrote and that source was something he wrote as well. He literally credited himself

[@AaronP247]

I think it is very fair to argue some of the criticism is due to racism. A lot of the pushback is coming from extremist conservative types and they have made this issue a political one when it simply is not.

[@PervySage723]

It sucks tbh. I wanna play the game, but pointless pandering annoys me so much

[@darryljack6612]

If you wanna play the game then just play the game, Yasuke is literally an optional character

[@44zeex]

Just play it then. Ignore the controversy

[@PervySage723]

@@44zeex eh idc about the controversy, I think its lazy writing and just a dumb concept

[@D4C_LoveTrain1]

​@@PervySage723the game isn't out tf you talking about man 😭

[@mysterious___1]

@@darryljack6612both characters have a story so he’s really not optional

[@greggeiger7532]

If someone thinks yasuke was a samurai I’m gonna think that person was a C student or worse in every history class they ever took.

[@Hidden_Creed]

All this over a video game is actually insane when we have so many other problems in this world. Imagine if people would put this amount of effort into solving problems of the world or even their lives😅🤦🏼‍♂️

[@DayBlueberry-F]

Another reason I fully believe all this conflict just comes from racism, they don't care about anything else happen, not in Palestine or Congo because they're racist, all they care about is that a black man is a protagonist in a massive game coming out and they hate that. The other reason is all the white Americans who were discovered to be using Google translate to leave hateful messages to Ubisoft in Japanese saying they hate the game and that Yasuke wasn't a samurai. Then there is also all the people who kept calling Japanese people "Japs" while arguing that Yasuke wasn't a samurai. It's all just blatant racism.

[@MajerHawk]

I honestly can’t believe you commented and watched this video when there’s starving kids in Africa.

[@cornerstoredrugs389]

Literallyyy 😂😂

[@shambles2723]

@@MajerHawk lol

[@Jeneric81]

Here’s the thing: They obviously decided to have a black character first, the rest was shoehorned in afterwards. They’re operating within a deeply racist mental framework where a person’s essence is in their skin color.