In response to the numerous complaints that have been leveled towards the game’s handling of Japanese culture, Assassin’s Creed Shadows art director Thierry Dansereau has attempted to assure critics that he and his fellow devs are attempting “to stay as respectful as possible to Japanese culture.”
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From its incorrect application of Chinese architecture in modeling Japanese buildings, use of a modern-day reenactment group’s custom banner for a historical military unit (and without the group’s permission, no less), and depiction of the historical Yasuke as a full-blown samurai rather than just a retainer, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has constantly stumbled in attempting to digitally recreate the Land of the Rising Sun as it appeared during its years under the control of the famous Oda Nobunaga.
And unsurprisingly, this haphazard treatment of Japan’s history and culture has led to both the game its dev team facing massive criticism over their creative intentions from not just Western players, but also Japanese citizens and politicians.
Eventually, the discourse around Shadows‘ depiction of Japan grew so loud that the game’s dev team, under the oversight of their parent company Ubisoft, eventually chose to offer a half-apology/half-request-for-trust specifically to Eastern critics.
Taking to the game’s official Twitter account on July 23rd, the game’s dev team asserted, “First, we want to express out heartfelt thanks for all your support for the Assassin’s Creed series which now has its own history spanning almost 20 years Over time, we have explored various settings, time periods, and characters, from an Assassin during the Third Crusade to a Viking in 9th century England, and countless more.”
“For many of our team, creating an Assassin’s Creed game set in Feudal Japan has been a long-cherished dream” they continued. “Since the announcement of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we have received many positive reactions, but also some criticism including from you, our Japanese players. We share your passion for history and deeply respect your care for the historical and cultural integrity of your rich heritage. We would like to address a few points to clarify our intentions and creative decisions.”
“We have put significant effort into ensuring an immersive and respectful representation of Feudal Japan,” the devs further wrote. “However, our intention has never been to present any of our Assassin’s Creed games, including Assassin’s Creed Shadows, as factual representations of history, or historical characters. Instead, we aim to spark curiosity and encourage players to explore and learn more about the historical settings we get inspired by.”
“Assassin’s Creed Shadows is first and foremost, designed to be an entertaining video game that tells a compelling, historical fiction set in Feudal Japan,” they added. “Our team extensively collaborated with external consultants, historians, researchers, and internal teams at Ubisoft Japan to inform our creative choices. Despite these sustained efforts, we acknowledge that some elements in our promotional materials have caused concern within the Japanese community. For this, we sincerely apologize.”
Now, after about a month of radio silence on the topic, the aforementioned Dansereau has offered a more personal on-the-ground take on the situation.
Pressed for his thoughts on the criticism of the game’s creative liberties by Eurogamer Editor-in-Chief Tom Phillips during the recent 2024 Gamescom trade show, Dansereau bluntly affirmed, “Of course we’re making creative choices. It’s a video game in the end, so we want to make the best experience as possible for our players.”
“We’ve worked with a lot of experts, to just understand well the time period,” he detailed. “We did a lot of our own work so we’re making sure we depict this world in a respectful way, while fulfilling the gameplay needs and making it entertaining.
“We’ve worked with Osaka and Tokyo studios [who’ve acted] as consultants, one of their art directors is involved and doing research in the field,” the art director further explained. “We went there, we did a field trip as well, and we have Japanese experts living in Japan. We use them a lot to look at our assets, they play the game and provide feedback.”
Turning to address the above statement from Ubisoft, Dansereau then asserted, “There was a letter published by Ubisoft apologising to that group of people in Japan, but something they need to know is we are working with experts, world-renowned experts, and if we have in any way offended [people] we are sorry but this is not the goal.”
“We’ve paid a lot of attention to stay as respectful as possible to Japanese culture, but creative choices are made on our side, based on all the discussions we had with our own group of experts,” he argued. “We’re confident with how the game will be received.”
Met with one final inquiry into the effect the social media backlash to Shadows has had on its dev team, the director clarified, “It’s a personal question – it’s up to everyone to see.”
“Do you read all the stuff that’s coming out?” said Dansereau. “Are you spending a lot of time on social media reading all the comments? Are you staying focused? I know some people who get affected – social media platforms are a free space where people can do what they want.”
“At the same time we’re very focused on shipping this title, on this last mile polishing the quality as much as possible,” he concluded. “We know we have a great game in our hands. We’re proud of that and should stay proud of this game we’ve made.”
For better or worse, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will draw its sword on November 15th for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Amazon Luna, Mac, and PC platforms.