Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been a marketing disaster of epic proportions, plagued by missteps that have left both fans and Japanese audiences frustrated. From culturally insensitive decisions to baffling character choices, the game’s promotional campaign seems cursed—or perhaps just a testament to Ubisoft’s tone-deaf approach.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
From the very beginning, with the cinematic trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft managed to upset both fans and Japanese audiences. Its insistence on having Yasuke as the main protagonist became a major point of contention. This decision was controversial because not only is Yasuke’s historical relevance questionable, but credible sources indicate that Yasuke was neither a samurai nor a well-documented historical figure.
By choosing a character whose historical significance is dubious, Ubisoft angered long-time Assassin’s Creed fans. The franchise has traditionally featured fictional protagonists who interact with historical figures, yet here, players are expected to embody a relatively obscure individual with no real influence during the Oda Nobunaga period or on Japanese history as a whole.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
This left many fans asking, “Why Yasuke?” Especially when the game could have centered around one of the most renowned and legendary samurai in history—Miyamoto Musashi, a figure far better documented and celebrated in Japanese culture. Yet, for reasons that remain unclear, Ubisoft deemed Yasuke a more “culturally relevant” choice for a game set in Japan.
Questionable Experts, Unquestionable Failures
But the mishaps don’t end there. Ubisoft proudly claimed to have hired “experts” to ensure the game was as immersive and culturally accurate as possible. However, the two “experts” they introduced, Thomas Lockley and Sachi Schmidt-Hori, came from questionable backgrounds, leading to widespread criticism of their involvement.
Thomas Lockley via Lance E. Lee Podcast from Tokyo YouTube
Thomas Lockley, a historian and co-author of African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, was accused of fabricating details about Yasuke to support his narrative. It was also discovered that Lockley had edited his own Wikipedia page to include these fabricated details, sparking outrage among Japanese historians.
The backlash became so severe that Lockley deleted all his online accounts, and Nihon University, where he worked as an associate professor, launched an investigation into his actions.
Thomas Lockley Author on Facebook
The investigation’s outcome remains unclear, but the damage to his reputation was undeniable.
Sachi Schmidt-Hori, on the other hand, is known for her research on Japanese monks and their alleged romantic relationships with male children. Her book, Tales of Idolized Boys: Male-Male Love in Medieval Japanese Buddhist Narratives, explores this highly controversial topic. Her selection as an expert for a game centered on the Sengoku period is baffling and raises serious questions about Ubisoft’s vetting process.
Screenshot of Sachi Schmidt-Hori and Ubisoft’s Brooke Davies discussing Assassin’s Creed Shadows
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One can’t help but question how and why these two were chosen to work on a historical period they clearly lacked expertise in. Yet we don’t even need to look at their backgrounds to see the glaring inaccuracies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. A simple look at the gameplay footage reveals Ubisoft failed to correct basic historical errors, such as incorporating Chinese and Korean architectural styles into a Japanese setting. Paintings included in the game are from the wrong time periods entirely.
Where were these alleged “experts” when these elements were added? Considering the numerous inaccuracies, one might wonder if Ubisoft should demand their money back. Unless of course they were paid to simply stand up and say “Yasuke was a real black samurai,” and nothing else…
When fans, particularly Japanese audiences, pointed out these issues, Ubisoft responded by doubling down on the “importance” of Yasuke in Japanese history. They dismissed criticism as rooted in racism, ignoring the substantive points raised by players and historians alike. This was a spectacularly poor marketing move.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
Unsurprisingly, this approach backfired. The controversy escalated when Satoshi Hamada, a member of Japan’s House of Councillors, acknowledged receiving numerous complaints about the game’s portrayal of Japanese history and culture. Hamada expressed intentions to bring these concerns before the National Diet, Japan’s legislative body, highlighting the game’s potential cultural insensitivity.
Ironically, Discussions arose about whether Assassin’s Creed Shadows could be considered “cultural appropriation.” Rumors circulated that the game might face censorship or, worse for Ubisoft, a ban on its release in Japan. A blow that Ubisoft didn’t want.
Marketing Mayhem: How Ubisoft Managed to Offend Everyone
And yet, Ubisoft kept making egregious missteps in its marketing efforts.
One of the most controversial examples was its plan to release and sell a figurine depicting Yasuke and Naoe, the second protagonist in the game, with Naoe perched on top of a half-destroyed torii gate.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Qlectors Yasuke & Naoe (2024), Pure Arts
This was no ordinary torii gate—it resembled one of the few pieces left standing after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
In Japan, this specific imagery is a solemn symbol of the horrors of nuclear devastation. The decision to use it as a decorative element for a collectible figurine was widely condemned as grossly insensitive (another thing their “historical experts” might have pointed out to them). After significant backlash, Ubisoft and its figurine partner, PureArts, announced they would withdraw the design and issue a replacement.
But the controversies didn’t stop there.
Ubisoft also marketed a katana sword, claiming it to be the type Yasuke would use in the game. Upon closer examination, fans quickly pointed out that the katana’s design was identical—or nearly identical—to that of Roronoa Zoro’s sword from the popular anime One Piece. This sparked allegations that Ubisoft had either plagiarized or outright resold a design connected to Eiichiro Oda’s intellectual property. The resemblance was so striking that fans demanded clarification, though Ubisoft has yet to publicly address these claims.
A screenshot of Nami, Luffy, and Zoro from the Netflix live action One Piece series – YouTube, Netflix
As if these weren’t enough, Ubisoft also stole a flag design from a Japanese historical reenactment group that focuses on the Sengoku period. The design was created by the Sekigahara Teppo-tai group and was clearly labeled as “not for commercial use.”
Despite being informed of this theft, Ubisoft has shown no willingness to remove the flag from the game or hold its developers accountable for this blatant disregard of intellectual property.
Adding further insult, Ubisoft included rap music during Yasuke’s in-game battles with samurai. While the company later announced the music would be removed, the damage was already done.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
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Critics lambasted Ubisoft for their tone-deaf approach, as the use of rap music felt like an attempt to connect Yasuke, a historical figure from Africa (possibly Mozambique), to African American culture. This demonstrated Ubisoft’s apparent ignorance of Yasuke’s actual background and perpetuated a racist stereotype that all Black individuals are inherently tied to rap music.
By doing so, Ubisoft failed to acknowledge the diverse cultures and histories within the African diaspora, instead generalizing all Black people as Black Americans.
Each of these controversies, whether from laziness, ignorance, or deliberate decisions, only compounded Ubisoft’s growing reputation for cultural insensitivity and poor marketing judgment.
An Ignorance Too Deep to Ignore: Ubisoft’s Last Stand
But it doesn’t end here, ladies and gentlemen. Even as the release date for Assassin’s Creed Shadows draws closer, Ubisoft’s marketing team continues to demonstrate astonishing incompetence.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
The latest debacle occurred when Ubisoft announced a delay for the game’s release, pushing it to March 20, 2025. A quick search on any laptop would reveal the significance of this date for Japan—it marks the 30th anniversary of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the nation’s history: the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
For a company that employs over 18,000 people (including two supposed experts in Japanese history), this oversight is nothing short of appalling. Time and again, Ubisoft reiterates its commitment to creating a “historically” and “culturally” accurate game, yet its actions contradict these claims constantly.
This latest misstep raises one of two possibilities: either Ubisoft has some of the most ignorant employees in the industry—making its statements hollow and disingenuous—or it has employees who are fully aware of these insensitive blunders but are either indifferent or mean-spirited enough to let them happen.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
In either case, such people should not be entrusted with the responsibility of creating or marketing a game tied to such a culturally significant period.
This isn’t a case of isolated poor decisions—it’s the result of incompetence so deeply rooted that it’s become part of the company’s very fabric. A company gasping its last breath, stumbling through a final, failed spectacle for an audience that no longer cares, except to see it consumed by the flames of its own making.
Do you think Ubisoft will survive the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Are the company’s repeated blunders ignorance or willful malice? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
Frankly, I personally think, this is all Tencent. They pushed for certain people to certain positions and we all know how Chinese HATE Japanese (search for some videos how chinese teach about japanese people, it’s brutal). And frankly, I really hope Japan sue Ubisoft and Guillemot over this. I think there are some laws in France to support this.
To be fair, the Japanese did horrible things to the Chinese in WW2. The hatred is justified.
Almost all, maybe even all of them, are dead. It’s the same thing as if Jewish people should be constantly hating all of Germans… It’s history, a past. I live in Czech Republic, we were betrayed by the Allies, before, during and after WWII. Thrice. Do we teach hatred about them? No. Oh, and don’t forget… Japan was nuked… Twice. Do they teach hatred towards USA? No. This only leads to… bear with me; HATRED. Which will lead to irreconcilable difficulties to cultivate some kind of permanent peace and constructive partnership.
I get that, but it’s hard for some people to let go. There are people in the southern United States who hate “yankees” because of the Civil War, and we’ll be seeing the 200th anniversary of that event in about 35 years. I think it’s human nature to want to have an enemy.
Very, very doubtful. And I will not cry a tear for them. If one can’t learn from touching fire, one will burn alive.
As a Japanese person, please don’t get the wrong idea, I didn’t mind Yasuke appearing in the game.
What caused the issue was that UBI and the media simply denigrate Japan and rewrite history without any consideration, yet they say that the game is based on Japanese history and that any opposing opinion is racist.
If UBI is so dismissive, I would have preferred if they had set the game somewhere other than Japan, or a fantasy Japan.
Although it is written in Japanese, the description on Steam has been changed from “Legendary Samurai” to “A soldier worth a thousand warriors.”
UBI has changed it to say that Yasuke is not a samurai, but Yasuke is not worth a thousand warriors either. And outside of Japan he is still referred to as a “legendary samurai.”
You can see how UBI is acting haphazardly and not in a serious manner.
Honda Tadakatsu was the samurai who was worth a thousand warriors.
The audacity of Ubisoft to give this Japanese idiom to Yasuke…
I mean if you put It like that… It is actually amazing how they took the worst possible choice in just every step… Thats DEI quality for you i guess
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How can I block this person?
You Be Soft really lends credence to yet another definition of DEI: Delusion, Incompetence, and Entitlement. They’re Deluded if they think this game will succeed, their Incompetence is so blatantly on display it’s impossible to ignore, and they’re just Entitled enough to blame customers *when* it fails miserably and they’re all out of jobs and the company files Chapter Thirteen.
These issues are primarily due to Ubisoft bringing in loads of diversity hires. It’s well known (and documented on this site in another article by John Trent) that Ubisoft (and CD Projekt Red, to boot) have hiring / mentorship programs that deliberately exclude straight men. They are DEI companies that hire people for skin color, sexuality, gender, etc. – qualities that have nothing to do with the skill to do the job for which they are being hired.
I have zero sympathy for Ubisoft – I hope they go out of business as quickly as possible and that IPs like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry are sold off to based developers who will do them right and not allow liberal women and alphabet goofballs to pump them full of degenerate nonsense.
It will be bought either by Tencent or Microsoft (or a company at-least-partially-owned/controlled by one or the other) . There is literally no other option.
Well… there is Musk, but I doubt he would buy mortally damaged IPs for overblown price…
I am so confused. We’ve been told for years that Liberals are not only highly sensitive to other cultures, but they’re ALWAYS the smartest people in the room. How could this have happened? Oh the humanity!!!
This game is a pleasure to see a successful company backs woke dei employed idiots into said dei. Then watch them fail game after game soon as ubisoft goes under everyone else will find out what happens when you cater for woke and not the gamers.
[…] top of everything else, the upcoming *Assassin’s Creed Shadows*, set in Japan, has landed in hot water. The choice of Yasuke, a controversial historical figure, as […]