Gamer's World | Inside 'Assassin's Creed Shadows' and the Controversial Reaction to its Samurai Hero

Assassin's Creed is a long-running AAA series developed by Ubisoft. Each game casts the player as an assassin or warrior in a different period of history — from assassin Ezio in Renaissance-era Italy in Assassin's Creed II, to Medjay hero Bayek in Assassin's Creed Origins' land of ancient Egyptian gods and pharaohs, and many more.

And now, at long last, Ubisoft has answered the calls of its fans by setting a game in Sengoku period Japan: Assassin's Creed Shadows. It is due for release on 12 November 2024.

But the announcement in May and gameplay reveal in June were not without controversy. The game features two protagonists: shinobi assassin Naoe, the fictional daughter of real-life ninja Fujibayashi Nagato; and Yasuke, portrayed as a samurai warrior, who is based on a real historical figure.

Semi-Fictional Protagonist

This is the first time the series has featured a real-life figure as the playable protagonist. But Assassin's Creed Shadows' casting of Yasuke has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, from those with genuine concerns about cultural appropriation and historical accuracy to the very worst kinds of internet trolls. 

The complaints in Japan mostly center around how Yasuke is depicted in marketing for the game. Comments online range from concerned to offended to deeply xenophobic.

Yasuke is believed to have been an African servant of the Jesuits who accompanied them on an evangelical mission to Japan in 1579. Once there, he wound up in the employ of daimyo Oda Nobunaga. While there is historical evidence of Yasuke's time with Nobunaga, it is limited and there is not unanimous agreement about its accuracy. 

We believe he was given his name by Nobunaga and employed on the daimyo's payroll. That seemed to show that the warlord admired him. He would have made an impression with his 6 ft frame and black skin, and he was given a sword and enrolled in Nobunaga's army. The daimyo was quoted as describing him as having the strength of 10 men.

But was he really a samurai? That's where things get complicated. Some historians argue there is no definitive evidence and claim he certainly wasn't. Meanwhile, others interpret Yasuke's relatively elevated warrior status in Nobunaga's employ as meaning he probably was. 

Controversy Over Yasuke

Many reputable journalistic sources including Time have referred definitively to Yasuke as a samurai, with Time quoting historian author Thomas Lockley as pointing out that the definition of a samurai in the 16th century was not so rigid. "Anybody who took up weapons on behalf of a lord could technically call themself a samurai, or could be called a samurai," wrote Lockley. 

Yasuke certainly fits that description. But I'm no historian, and I don't assert to know either way. 

Ubisoft's official website, trailers, and other marketing for the game also refer to the real Yasuke as a samurai. That is what seems to have sparked so much controversy, inside and outside of Japan. 

Each time we have published videos about Assassin's Creed Shadows on IGN Japan, the comments section has been flooded with users voicing concern about the historical honesty of the game's presentation. Some of the more extreme comments even call Ubisoft racists and insinuate our publication is a traitor to Japan. 

Emotionally Charged

I don't want to be dismissive of people's feelings on this issue, but it's quite obvious through examining the analytics that the vast majority of these comments are not from our regular viewers. Many of the complaints are almost identical in content, so I can only assume they are targeted attacks. And many seem to have never heard of Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft, or IGN Japan before. They are simply enjoying engaging in the controversy. 

The underlying sentiment seems to be based on rejecting the notion that a black African man could be given a position of power in Japanese history. 

Other comments are ludicrous. One commenter remarked that the part in the gameplay video where Yasuke, racing through the woods on his horse, doesn't stop to let an indigenous monkey pass is somehow proof that the game betrays Japanese social values, and so on. As a foreign immigrant in Japan myself, I can't help but wince at some of these comments. 

Company Calls It Fiction

But more to the point, the Assassin's Creed games have always blurred the line between historical fact and fiction. Often they do it very well. "Shadows" seems simply to be following that trend. 

When I interviewed Associate Narrative Director Brooke Davies in June during the Ubisoft Forward showcase in Los Angeles, she reiterated, "The story we are telling is historical fiction." 

Davies said, "The story is very much fiction, and what the writing team has imagined based on these historical figures and events."

She went on to explain that the very fact that so little is known about Yasuke is what encouraged them to feature him in the game, filling in the blanks to present their version of him. The cracks of speculation in his story allow imagination and creativity to flourish. 

Compared to Fine Art

Just like the Mona Lisa is a portrait based partly on the model and partly on Leonardo Da Vinci's artistic expression, so Ubisoft's Yasuke is part fact, part fiction. We allow artistic license in films, books, TV, anime, and more, and games should be no exception. 

Certainly, there is a ton of fiction based on the idea of the first black samurai. Most notably, the 2021 hit Netflix series titled Yasuke and Takashi Okazaki's fantasy manga Afro Samurai, which was later adapted as an anime series starring Samuel L Jackson. So "Shadows" is hardly the first to take this approach.

Also, the development teams at Ubisoft have proven through previous Assassin's Creed games that they are extremely skilled and thorough at historical research – they even predicted a secret chamber within the Great Pyramid of Giza when researching for the 2017 game Assassin's Creed Origins. Just such a chamber was discovered in real life shortly after the release of the game. 

Later, the company implemented a Discovery Tour mode in some of their games that allowed players to go on a guided tour of each location. Therefore, it seems fair to give them the benefit of the doubt until the game is out and we have a chance to play it.

Mixed Origins of the Game

Some fans of the series have also voiced their disappointment that after waiting so long to play an Assassin's Creed game set in Japan, when one finally comes it will not allow them to play as a Japanese character. I can see this argument. However, it seems unfair to ignore the fact that one of the two protagonists, Naoe, is indeed a Japanese character. 

Some are even labeling this as cultural appropriation. Complaints are saying it is discrimination against Japanese people or discrimination against Asians in general.

Others dismiss Yasuke's inclusion as "woke." They accuse Ubisoft of pandering to American political correctness. Nevertheless, the game was actually developed in Canada by a company based in France.

But I also get why the developers may have chosen Yasuke as one of their heroes. After all, in recent years we have had a few games featuring samurai. 

The most notable are two Sony-published games: Ghost of Tsushima (developed in the United States by Sucker Punch Productions) and Rise of the Ronin (made in Japan by Koei Tecmo's Team Ninja). Both games have a Japanese samurai protagonist and depict a similar era of feudal conflict. So choosing to focus on Yasuke allows Assassin's Creed Shadows to stand apart creatively and tell a very different story. 

African Immigrants A Part of History

Also... Choosing to focus on an African immigrant to Japan is not racial discrimination. There are African people in Japan and many other non-Japanese people, and anyone is free to choose to tell their stories. It's not woke, it's not political correctness, and if it is a deliberate choice to pursue ethnic diversity, then what better character to explore those themes than Yasuke – one of the first ever black people in recorded Japanese history?

I suppose the obvious answer is that if people want to see more games based on Japanese protagonists, nothing is stopping them from making their own. The hurdle for making a game has never been lower. 

Furthermore, gamers around the world are hungry for all kinds of perspectives. In the meantime, if we can have games made in Japan featuring a fictional Italian plumber, then surely it's fair to have one made in Canada starring a semi-fictional black samurai.

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Author: Daniel Robson
Daniel Robson is the chief editor of videogame news site IGN Japan. Read his series Gamer's World on JAPAN Forward, and find him on X (formerly Twitter).