Elon Musk weighed in on the possibility of Ubisoft’s upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows game featuring a gay black samurai.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
Musk weighed in while responding to X user Ian Miles Cheong. Cheong wrote, “Should Ubisoft delay Assassin’s Creed Shadows in response to widespread backlash over the game’s injection of DEI? The game is so thoroughly woke that it features a black gay protagonist depicted as a ‘real historical samurai’ in Japan. Offensive beyond belief. No one asked for this.”
Musk replied, “DEI kills art.”
Elon Musk on X
Ubisoft revealed that in the upcoming game players will have the option to play either Yasuke or a fictional character named Naoe. In a blog post, the company describes Yasuke as a “real-life Samurai” and explained the decision to make the historical figure playable.
The company wrote, “The decision to include a playable, real-life historical figure of this era in Assassins’ Creed Shadows was two-fold: Ubisoft Quebec wanted to include a Samurai, and Yasuke’s story was open-ended enough to allow for creativity; there are still plenty of questions and speculation surrounding him. The fascinating facts, though, were undisputable: of African origin, he arrived in Japan enslaved by the Portuguese; he impressed with size, strength, and wits; he served under the Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga.”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
Yasuke’s status as a Samurai is disputed. The Way of Bushido website notes, “There is also NO RECORD of Yasuke receiving martial arts training, or use of the Japanese sword, either when in the service of Nobunaga or the years prior. The truth is that his time with Nobunaga was limited, as they first met in 1581 and Oda Nobunaga was dead a year later. This is hardly enough time for Yasuke to be trained to be the great warrior all the Waukanda dreamers want him to be.”
The website also answers the question, “Yasuke as a Samurai? Sadly, for either commercial purpose, or some social equity rationale, some people attempt to equate Yasuke as a non Japanese Samurai in the same way the English sailor William Adams (Pilot) was later viewed. However Adams was actually presented Samurai status, and there is no record of Yasuke being bestowed similar Samurai status. The FACTs are that Oda Nobunaga made him a servant for a few months.”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
READ: Ubisoft Appears To Confirm ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Protagonists Yasuke And Naoe Are LGBTQ+
As for the idea that the game will depict Yasuke as gay, Ubisoft’s blog post states, “Naoe and Yasuke’s disparate personalities also lead them to have different relationships and rapports with other characters, and they don’t always feel the same way about people, nor do people always feel the same way about them.
“Romantically, they will also attract and be attracted to different types of people. Through the pair, players will get to experience a multitude of relationships,” it asserts.
Key art for Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
What do you make of Musk’s response to Ubisoft’s apparent activism in Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
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Yasuke (Japanese: 弥助 / 弥介, Japanese pronunciation: [jasɯke]) was a man of African origin who served as a retainer to the Japanese daimyō Oda Nobunaga for a period of 15 months between 1581 and 1582, during the Sengoku period, until Nobunaga’s death in the Honnō-ji Incident. he was a cliff note in history end of story.
The game is an affront to the Japanese people.
Exactly to your last sentence.