The "Assassin's Creed" series of video games is adored for painstaking historic accuracy, but also sparks controversy with heavy use of artistic license -- most recently with a black samurai in the latest installment, "Shadows".
Released on Thursday, "Shadows" takes place in 16th-century feudal Japan, replete with imposing fortified cities and tranquil temples crafted by developers.
"They've done a really fantastic job with very accurate recreations," said Pierre-Francois Souyri, a historian among a dozen French and Japanese experts consulted for the game in a bid to weed out cliches and anachronisms.
Since being tapped in late 2021, Souyri says he has answered "a hundred or more questions" from the development team, ranging from how salt was produced to how puppet shows were staged.
Souyri adds that within the carefully crafted setting, "it's not too hard to come up with characters who find themselves having adventures" in "a very eventful period" marked by intense conflicts.
But one foundational choice by the creative team has provoked fierce debate online and beyond: casting a black samurai, Yasuke, as one of the two playable protagonists. The other is a young female ninja, Fujibayashi Naoe.
Irritation that an African character was depicted with the rank of samurai prompted a Japanese petition against the move, receiving more than 100,000 signatures.
The text blasted "lack of historical accuracy and cultural respect" by game developers.
Souyri was unimpressed by the criticism.
"It's the game's conceit to call him a samurai, it's not a doctoral thesis," he said.
Like other historians who have weighed in, he pointed out that Yasuke "is a person who really existed" -- although the historic evidence on his status "can be difficult to interpret".
Yuichi Gozai, assistant professor at the National Centre for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, disagreed.
"Nothing proves that Yasuke had such qualifications" making him a samurai, medieval history specialist Gozai said.
In surviving documents, "Yasuke stood out above all for the color of his skin and his physical strength".
His patron, warlord Oda Nobunaga, likely "kept Yasuke by his side to show him off", Gozai believes.
Erupting even before "Shadows" had been released, the controversy over the black character's inclusion has been the fiercest surrounding any "Assassin's Creed" game.
The series has been attacked in the past, including by hard-left French politician Jean-Luc Melenchon for how firebrand Robespierre was depicted in "Assassin's Creed Unity", set during the French Revolution.
In a February report, the European Video Game Observatory noted that Ubisoft's announcement of Yasuke immediately "sparked a heated controversy amplified by social media".
The outfit blamed most of the uproar on "an American conservative moral crusade" waged by a hard core of "at least 728 interconnected accounts".
That group made up "only 0.8 percent of speakers on the topic of 'Assassin's Creed Shadows' in the US (but) account for 22.1 percent of all related coverage", the Observatory added.
The researchers said the behavior "suggests an astroturfing campaign" that piggybacked on the broader culture-war battles going on during the U.S. presidential election campaign.
"Our use of Yasuke has been instrumentalised by certain people to get their own message across... but that's not the message of the game," said Marc-Alexis Cote, executive producer of the "Assassin's Creed" franchise.
Nevertheless, within Japan depictions of the country's history remain a sensitive issue -- as shown by reactions to images showing a "Shadows" player damaging the interior of a temple.
"I understand France's secularist principles, but it's important to acknowledge that ill-considered insults about religion can spark strong reactions," Gozai said. "This risk should have been foreseen."
Ubisoft itself had resisted for some time fans' demands to see an "Assassin's Creed" game set in Japan.
But recent successful games set in the feudal period, such as 2019's "Sekiro" or 2020's "Ghost of Tsushima", may have helped overcome the publisher's reticence.
"There's a combined effect of exoticism and familiarity which fascinates Westerners," historian Souyri said.
Many young people, especially in Western countries such as France and the United States, devour Japanese mangas and anime series.
But Gozai argues that "these depictions become counterproductive if they reinforce discrimination and prejudice toward Japan".
He calls "Shadows" a "clear example of these concerns being realised".
© 2025 AFP
62 Comments
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Namahage
Just wait until those small-minded racists watch the movie "Ghost Dog"!
Jay
Ubisoft really thought they could shoehorn a "black samurai" into feudal Japan, and then try and shift the blame to people who object on "American conservatives"? NEWS FLASH: it was largely JAPANESE themselves who were the most annoyed, because why wouldn't they care about historical accuracy in depictions of their own culture? A petition with over 100,000 signatures from actual Japanese people wasn't enough for Ubisoft to reconsider, but some report claiming that 728 Twitter accounts from the U.S. were behind all the outrage? Now that's serious!
The best part is the historians themselves admit Yasuke wasn't even a real samurai. But since when did FACTS matter when there are culture war points to score?! And how's the hilarious contradiction from Ubisoft: "historical accuracy doesn’t matter" while somehow also claiming "this is a powerful moment of representation!"
Someone needs to send these clowns the memo: virtue signaling is so 2024. Back to the drawing board!
Jay
Ah yes, how good - screech "RACISM" the moment anyone questions blatant historical revisionism and forcing modern identity politics into places where they don't belong.
Why do you do that?
Bob Fosse
Losers upset about a video game. The Assassins Creed series is more Science Fiction than anything else. If you want historical accuracy read a book.
Jay
Super cool analysis Bobb. By that logic, why bother with any historical setting at all? Just throw aliens into Ancient Rome and call it a day. If the best defense of this virtue-signaling nonsense is dismissing criticism of if as "losers being mad," then maybe your argument was lost before it even started.
Bob Fosse
You are upset about something you don’t understand. The Assassins Creed series is SF not history. The protagonist is inside the animus, a modern day virtual reality chamber. There are aliens in it.
Hideyoshi.N
I think there are not many black samurai in Japan back in that time. So this is not right. But it's ok this is only video game.
Bob Fosse
Bear in mind these are the same people who were angry Amazon filmed hobbits the wrong color. Seriously, get a life.
Jayel
Ubisoft makes awful cookie-cutter games anyway. I don't understand the appeal of their games. Why buy this when you can play Sekiro or Ghost of Tsushima?
I'veSeenFootage
This is the only significant information in this article. Just MAGA being MAGA. Getting loud and angry over a video game. (A very bland and formulaic video game series that has been going on for far too long, I might add.) In real life, few people really care about Assassin's Creed, and even less care about its hero.
It's obvious that the vast majority of those signatures aren't from "actual Japanese people" at all. Rather from 4channers and other alt-right doofuses. Shadows is currently ranked as the third best-selling game on Amazon Japan and is also among the top-selling games on Rakuten, so japanese gamers don't seem really that angry with it. Unless they're hate-preordering.
dbsaiya
It's just a game. Although I would argue that if Ubisoft really wanted to try and insert race, then how about a black assassin in the Civil War? Then we can grab some popcorn and watch the spectacle unfold! Now that's entertainment!
obladi
guess what? I don't care.
Negative Nancy
Early reviews are that it is actually quite a good game to play. Its a real shame they decided to alienate a lot of potential players by using non-Japanese characters. This is nothing to do with the characters being black it is to do with it being ridiculous. There's grounded fantasy and then there's silly fantasy.
ian
Was the outfit referred above Ubisoft?
virusrex
And if you look at those signatures you can see how little this is representative of the Japanese gaming community, and how close it is to the american conservative moral crusade already identified.
Ubisoft as every other gaming company can do whatever they want with their games, that is their right and this is not even an outlier. Also, ubisoft is not the one that identified the campaign of american conservatives, your claim is false.
Because players find that amusing and interesting, Ghost of Tsujima took a huge lot of liberties as well and impossible things happened all the time, yet players were very happy with it.
What part of diversity, equity or inclusion you find negative?
Not from the country in question.
It appears the vocal minority are not really a target worth trying to keep happy, the argument that the decision could have inspired more people to play the game even without special interest to the period than those that decided to boycott the game.
Have you playet the other Assassin's Creed games? none can be said to be accurate and they take a lot of liberties with historical events.
Jay
Probably the same people who think watching anime makes them samurai and call themselves "Ronin" on Reddit... and/or history-averse, white-guilt-stricken Uber "Progressives" desperately trying to rewrite the past so they can feel better about themselves.
ian
a blacklist
virusrex
So your explanation is a list of prejudices and misrepresentations about the people that like the games, yet you also want people to believe you understand exactly how these people feel about the game and why they are rejecting it by buying it in masse? None of this makes any sense.
Bob Fosse
The previous Viking themed installment in the series has generated over a billion dollars in revenue. The video game industry makes more money than music, film and tv combined.
ian
Mental gymnastics should really be an Olympic event. Would be really good for you lol
kurisupisu
The game is a work of fiction and not fact,so….
Jay
Not sure if serious. But here you go - the part where it prioritizes superficial identity markers over merit, competence, and ACTUAL equality. The part where it lowers standards to meet quotas instead of raising people up. The part where it creates division by forcing everything through the lens of race, gender, and grievance instead of treating people as individuals.
You asked - there's your answer, champ.
Peeping_Tom
Yasuke arrived in Japan, as a slave well into his mid twenties; a bit old to learn the Bokken properly.
He remained in Japan for 2 years only.
Far too short a time for him to master the Katana, Naginata, the Yumi, Kenjutsu and then proceed to fight and defeat REAL Samurai who usually started training aged 3!
To regard Yasuke as a Samurai is a travesty.
The Japanese have all the reason to be pissed off.
Simples.
Ken
Exactly, never seen a pope waltzing around with magic powers and spells, as video games are supposed to be fantasy. People literally went out of their way to express their racism but they don't say anything about a white ronin in a movie that takes place in the same era or if they made up some story about a founding father instead of Yasuke all the loudest people would be silent and have zero cares to give
I'veSeenFootage
I seriously doubt the pretty good sales figures in Japan are due to... foreign anime otakus. Try again.
Hideyoshi.N
It's obvious that the vast majority of those signatures aren't from "actual Japanese people" at all.
What does it mean these are not actual Japanese people? Many Japanese people don't agree with idea of black samurai. Why are they not actual?
virusrex
So you find negative the misrepresentations done by conservative propaganda groups that do NOT apply to actual efforts to promote diversity equity and inclusion?
The solution for that would be for you to stop getting your information from those biases sources and switch to much more trust worthy ones.
When your answer is just a repetition of debunked claims that does not make the answer more valid, it just explains why you choose to use that invalid answer.
It seems the concept of videogames is new for you, all of them have "travesties" all over the place, it is made for fun.
The Japanese are not pissed off, a group of conservative intransigent extremist outside the country are.
Ken
Yeah because the racists who don't understand what the word means are the same people trying to use it as a slur
Ken
Define equality because a whole bunch of people like Twitter users for example don't know what it means
virusrex
How many? based on what? sales? because that would say the opposite. And this is from a market that is not really that strong for Ubisoft games. That the petition is not being signed by Japanese has been long reported, with most comments written in English or unnatural Japanese.
chatanista
While some people are upset about this they are likely in a minority. Most likely don't care too much or accept that this a fantasy game.
Peeping_Tom
"It seems the concept of videogames is new for you, all of them have "travesties" all over the place, it is made for fun."
And it seems to me that the power of fantasy and how the imaginary shapes many people's perception of reality escapes you.
virusrex
You are the one saying that the "power of fantasy" is nothing and people should not enjoy something just because it is not fully, absolutely, 100% based on historical facts. That was you.
For most people this is perfectly inside of what is enjoyable as a fantasy.
Express sister
Conservatives: A VR-based sci-fi game where you travel in time and fist-fight the Pope, and can survive 200ft falls because there is some straw in a cart? Yes, this checks out, fine, very history. I especially liked in the one set in 19th Century London where Karl Marx was an ardent capitalist.
Also conservatives: A black person in a videogame? muh realism!!!!!
Jay
All you have done there is prove you can't refute a single point.
What you're doing is desperately trying to justify the elimination of MERITOCRACY, while trying to shift the blame to something that doesn't exist, attempting to gaslight anyone who calls it out.
If DEI were truly about fairness, you wouldn't need to twist yourself into knots to defend it. But the reality is, again, it simply replaces merit-based systems with ideological quotas and preferential treatment. The very antithesis of fairness.
Ah_so
Had the lead character been an English samurai the world have been an equal amount of upset from the Japanese, although the American conservatives world probably have kept quiet. Others might have commented on the "white saviour" issue.
I feel that it is a Japanese story set in Japan loosely based on Japanese history - why not keep all of the characters Japanese? I suspect Unisoft feel that having a non-Japanese character would be more appealing to the wider gaming community.
yoshisan88
From the internet:
Fiction, in its simplest form, refers to imaginary or invented stories, characters, or events, as opposed to factual or real-world accounts. It's a creative and imaginative form of storytelling, often used for entertainment or to explore different perspectives and ideas.
The game is fiction, not a documentary, I do not know what all the fuss is about.
Jay
Well Kenneth, I'll tell you what it ISN'T - equity, which seeks equal outcomes, not equal opportunities. That means it's all about policies that artificially boost some groups while disadvantaging others, even if they worked harder or achieved more. Is that clear enough?
Peeping_Tom
I have been a Shotokan practitioner from a very young age; never heard of any traditional black sensei in ancient Japan.
Recently, quite a few people I know have started lecturing me about black influence in Japanese traditional fighting arts, because of this "Samurai" called Yasuke!!!
Tell a lie a few times.....!
virusrex
Not at all, it was very easy, all your points are propaganda from intolerant groups that like to misrepresent diversity, equity and diversity efforts and you made exactly zero arguments defending them, zero. Just repeat that they are correct because you said so, that is not an argument, is recognizing you have no arguments.
Not at all, because that is irrelevant. Of course when your first principle is that some groups of people are inherently inferior, so it is impossible for them to reach the same level as "superior" races and groups then it makes total sense, of course it is wrong and false, but this intolerant segregationist line of thought is unfortunately what makes people thing diversity equity and inclusion can only happen by giving the same chance to people with "lower" abilities.
The one trying to twist and turn ideas to justify it are those that base their arguments in racism but want to pretend it is not. For the rest of the world this is simple and straight forward.
That is yet another misrepresentation.
https://onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/equity-vs-equality/
Recognizing inequalities that are unfair is not wrong. Just because you give a car to a blind person that does not make it "giving the same opportunities".
For example that people should not enjoy anything if it is not absolutely and perfectly in line with historical facts. Or that you can use appeals to authority and hearsay from anonymous accounts as arguments. A kendo practitioner of 80 years that have never heard about black influence on Japanese martial arts said so.
Antiquesaving
I like how any time the Japanese seem to say something the west and far left claim it isn't the Japanese but some fictional right wing conspiracy.
When the protest by 99% non Japanese Asian and white Americans at the Boston museum over White people putting on a kimono in an event sponsored by the Japanese government and kimono association, the western news and protesters claimed that all those supporting the event on social media were right wing Americans faking being Japanese, when in fact a group of Japanese artists of which my daughter was part of were blocked calling them " fake Japanese and white right Wing".
The same thing happened with ghost in the shell, again the Japanese had no problem and said so, but again we were told it was fake Japanese and actually "white right Wing" now the Japanese actually have a problem with something and again the west says they aren't actually Japanese but again white right Wing faking to be Japanese.
It is amazing how anytime the Japanese seem to speak up and not say what the western far left like, they are dismissed and their views are said to be those of "western right wing groups" despite evidence showing otherwise.
News flash, the Japanese actually do have opinions and despite rarely going public with those options, when they do it is because it is something they feel is important to say.
I have two adult mixed children, one is a big gamer and he is of the opinion that if they put that much effort to historical accuracy in the weapons the temples scenery etc... then they should do the same for the characters.
He isn't upset, he doesn't really care, he expects what he calls " western ignorance" but he does know others that are not happy about this.
DanteKH
If this would have happened in a MARVEL universe, for example, nobody would have bat an eye about it.
But in the no-so-popular AC Universe, everybody loses their minds.
Next I want to see a Black or an Asian Dracula game and/or movie!! Let's go!
virusrex
Well, it makes sense when you see most of the comments on a petition just repeating the same points the conservative american groups use all the time, or bad japanese translations based on them.
Much more when you see sales do not in any way represent those comments and instead go quite well, after all a "conspiracy" to make thousands of comments for free anonymously is not really that much of a burden. A conspiracy to make a game sell very well in a country where the gamers are supposedly boycotting that game stretches much more the credibility.
In this case the Japanese people have apparently no trouble with the game, yet you choose to be on the side of the right wing americans faking being Japanese. The available evidence clearly support a lack of widespread rejection of the game, yet you choose to ignore this and believe one single source with very clear indication of foreign participation as representative of what the Japanese supposedly think.
Nobody says everybody is happy with the game, there are exactly zero games that do that, what the article and the evidence point out is that most gamers don't feel strongly against the character, and the vocal ones against it are a tiny minority that appear to be non-Japanese according to the evidence.
Express sister
Yes. Luke Skywalker using the force to destroy a giant space station after about 30 minutes of training? Normal, realistic, cool. Rey defeating a badly injured man who was actively trying not to hurt her? DEI, terrible, the end of the west.
I'veSeenFootage
It's a video game. Not an encyclopedia. I haven't seen any outrage or petitions against the historical innacuracies in Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin! or Ghost of Tsushima. Why?
wallace
It's just a fantasy video game.
zulander
Why time travel? Seems fun
Why 200ft jumps? entertaining
Fight against a Magic pope? again, entertaining
Lets stick in a different ethnicity - Now what would be the "reason" for this?.
Dave Fair
Peeping_TomToday 08:44 am JST
Yasuke did NOT arrive in Japan "as a slave". He traveled from India to Japan in 1579 with Alessandro Valignano, an Italian Jesuit missionary essentially serving as Valignano’s bodyguard, employed as muscle because missionaries weren’t allowed to have weapons.
In 16th-century Japan, the title of samurai spoke to rank and was loosely defined as a warrior in the service of a lord or another warrior. Nobunaga employed thousands of samurai—yet Yasuke was the first foreign-born warrior to enter their ranks. He belonged to a very small entourage around Nobunaga, which was probably around 30 to 50 warriors and was by Nobunaga's side when he performed seppuku on June 21, 1582.
and why would that be, that a warrior of African descent ascended to the title of Samurai?
It's always wise to research before sticking ones' foot in ones' mouth ;)
Jay
Haha what?! That is exactly what it sounds like you're suggesting - that certain races are inherently inferior and need DEI as a crutch? That's pretty insulting. Imagine telling an entire group of people that they can't succeed without artificial handouts from "benevolent" elites. That's not progress - that's just a soft bigotry wrapped in self-righteousness.
Express sister
We're talking about historical realism. If you're talking about things being fun and cool, I agree. And Yasuke's inclusion doesn't make things less fun or less cool. So who cares?
virusrex
again, entertaining
That is your argument, when all groups are equally capable of reaching the same point, but minorities don't that speaks of systematic inequalities causing this.
The opposite, all "races" are equally capable of reaching the same points, but obviously this is not the case and should be corrected because it is not based on capacity. You on the other hand expect those groups to be inherently inferior, so any effort to correct the inequality can only be successful by elevating poeple out of their inferior position to the same level as those that you like to consider superior.
Without this prejudice it becomes obvious that efforts to correct inequalities in no way depend on unqualified or less capable people to do any job.
The efforts are not to make up a lack of capacity as you misrepresent, they are done to correct a situation where people are left with less chances to reach their potential because of invalid, unjustified bias.
Chabbawanga
First world problems right here. Dont like it, dont play it. No need to cry, its just a game.
chatanista
It's just a game, so I'm also looking forward to the day when we get a Chinese / Japanese Black Panther and nobody will complain.
Jay
No, what you just said is that some races can't succeed on their own and need DEI to artificially boost them. That's a very twisted, racist view. Instead of admitting that different outcomes can come from individual effort, you assume certain groups are helpless without your intervention. That's not equality - that's just dressed-up condescension. Really disappointing stuff from you.
travelbangaijin
How many "White ninja movies" we had to endure in the 1980s?
Mr Kipling
Who cares? Its a video game where even when you win, you are a loser.
IMadeAnAccountJustForThis
@dantekh
Then you should check out 'Blackula' and any other myriad of movies from the blackspoitation era of cinema. It's not a new concept.
As for assassin's creed, the game is a fantasy and although being set in a historical setting obviously makes a lot of changes so it is fun and a video game.
Antiquesaving
No it doesn't sound like what he said.
Are you going to say, that in medieval Japan a non Japanese could arrive here and be treated the same and even better than a commoner Japanese?
Let's be real here, even the "peasant" Japanese were basically bared from becoming samurai, it was like the knights in Europe, reserved for the upper class.
We are not talking about the 21st century!
chatanista
How many "White ninja movies" we had to endure in the 1980s?
True, those were shockingly awful. Loved them,lol.
zulander
Lol sorry no - why would it be entertaining to play another race? One that conspicuously doesn't fit historically in the role ?
Ive never heard people complain about not being able to relate to characters in Sangokumuso/chinese history/Samurai games because of their ethnicity- so this sticks out like a sore thumb. If it was a white dude it would be equally silly. If it was a half asian mix of some sort, then maybe there is something believable there.
owzer
A black dude killing people? That part sounds pretty realistic. What's the problem?
Abe234
Well one thing is for sure. This game is getting a ton of free press, and gamers who love the game will still pick it up. I guess they could also add a microtransaction to download and play as another character. (if they wanted to)
Antiquesaving
Nice try to rewrite history!
Nearly all Japanese historians are clear he was also slave and a gift to Nobunaga.
Plus we have this little tidbit
And you are trying to tell us he was free and worked (paid) as a bodyguard!?