A petition accuses Ubisoft of insulting Japanese culture and demands the cancellation of Assassin's Creed Shadows

Assassin's Creed Shadows is the 14th installment in the AC series and is set in feudal Japan. The game, which is scheduled for release on November 15, 2024, can already be pre-ordered. However, many in Japan want the release of the latest AC sequel to be stopped.

A petition on Change.org accuses Ubsisoft of disrespecting Japanese culture and calls on Ubisoft to cancel the game's release. The petition, which was launched on June 19, 2024, has already collected over 51,000 signatures. The points of criticism include the misrepresentation of the role of the samurai, architectural errors, inaccurate costumes and seating arrangements as well as the controversial portrayal of Yasuke, the first African samurai. The petition even talks about "Asian racism":

The game is based on the subject of Japanese samurai and ignores the fact that samurai are a higher class of samurai and should be "gokemono" or servants of nobility. In fact, the first European to receive the title of samurai, William Adams (Miura Anobori), was a bannerman with 250 koku and served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Throughout this history, Ubisoft continues to misunderstand the nature and role of the Samurai. This is a serious insult to Japanese culture and history and could lead to Asian racism.

At least as far as the architectural inaccuracies are concerned, Charles Benoit, Game Director at Ubisoft, had already promised in an interview with Game.Watch (in Japanese) to eradicate these before the game's release. It remains to be seen whether the portrayal of the samurai will change. It is unlikely that Ubsisoft will be deterred from releasing Assassin's Creed Shadows by the petition. Ultimately, the decision to release the game lies with the developers and managing directors.