Ubisoft has landed in yet another controversy as the Itate Hyozu Jinja shrine in Japan has formally requested the removal of its sacred site from Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The demand comes after recently released gameplay footage revealed that the game allows players to enter the shrine—an active place of worship—and destroy its interior, including smashing items and even demolishing the temple’s altar.
NPC gets shot in the head by Yasuke’s arrow, yet is fine and just runs away… Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Yasuke then goes on to destroy a sacred Japanese shrine.
Tks to @GregBruniGB for pointing it out.pic.twitter.com/KjnXXZpBcR
— Grummz (@Grummz) January 31, 2025
Mark Kern, AKA Grummz, former World of Warcraft lead and gaming industry veteran, relayed the reaction of those connected to the shrine.
“My local source confirms: The Itate Hyozu Jinja shrine in Japan has filed a formal request to Ubisoft, asking them to remove the entire religious site from Assassin’s Creed Shadows. My source tells me the temple leaders are very upset at the use of their shrine and the ability to destroy the interior.”
My local source confirms:
The Itate Hyozu Jinja shrine in Japan has filed a formal request to Ubisoft, asking them to remove the entire religious site from Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
My source tells me the temple leaders are very upset at the use of their shrine and the ability…
— Grummz (@Grummz) February 12, 2025
This latest blunder adds to the growing list of cultural missteps that have plagued Shadows since its announcement. Ubisoft has repeatedly claimed to have conducted extensive research on Japanese history and culture, hiring so-called “experts” to ensure authenticity. Yet, the company has demonstrated a pattern of tone-deaf decisions that have infuriated both Japanese audiences and long-time fans of the Assassin’s Creed franchise.
A Long Pattern of Cultural Insensitivity
The Itate Hyozu Jinja controversy isn’t an isolated incident. Ubisoft has faced widespread backlash for numerous inaccuracies and disrespectful depictions of Japanese culture in Shadows.
One major issue stemmed from a collector’s statue included in the game’s special edition, which featured a destroyed torii gate. Fans quickly pointed out that the broken gate bore an unsettling resemblance to the famous photograph of the torii gate left standing in Hiroshima after the atomic bombing in 1945. The resemblance was so striking that many accused Ubisoft of either intentionally referencing the devastation of Hiroshima or, at the very least, being grossly negligent in their design choices.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Qlectors Yasuke & Naoe (2024), Pure Arts
The backlash was immediate, with many calling the design deeply inappropriate and offensive, especially given Japan’s sensitivity to its wartime history. Faced with mounting criticism, Ubisoft quietly removed the statue from its promotional materials and ultimately decided to scrap it entirely from the collector’s edition. However, the damage had already been done, further reinforcing the perception that Ubisoft lacked the cultural awareness necessary to handle a game set in Japan.
Another recent scandal involved the unauthorized use of the Sekigahara Teppo Corps’ banner in official Assassin’s Creed Shadows art. The symbol, belonging to a real and still-active historical organization, was used without permission. This led to demands for Ubisoft to remove it from promotional materials. The company was forced to apologize and remove the banner from promotional materials. However, it’s still featured in the game’s official art book.
This is the banner Ubisoft used without permission.
Video is here: https://t.co/7x3GSi63gn pic.twitter.com/S1V0DRct3h
— Grummz (@Grummz) June 18, 2024
Additionally, Ubisoft’s choice to center the game around Yasuke has been a source of ongoing controversy. While Yasuke was a historical figure, his actual role in Japanese history remains unclear. Unlike previous Assassin’s Creed games, where historical figures were NPCs providing context and missions, Shadows makes Yasuke the primary playable protagonist, sidelining traditional Japanese male figures in favor of a narrative that many feel is manufactured to fit modern ideological trends rather than historical reality.
Ubisoft’s Troubled History with Sacred Religious Sites
This isn’t the first time Ubisoft has shown disregard for religious landmarks. One of the most infamous examples comes from Assassin’s Creed II, where the final mission involves breaking into the Vatican and physically assaulting the Pope. While this was played off as part of the franchise’s historical fiction, it set a precedent for Ubisoft’s willingness to depict real-world religious sites in a way that many would find offensive.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (2011), Ubisoft Montreal
READ: Elon Musk Calls Video Game Journalism ‘Garbage’ as Struggling Industry Lashes Out to Defend Itself
Now, with Shadows, Ubisoft is facing similar backlash from Japan, a country that takes its cultural heritage seriously. The destruction of a real, still-functioning Shinto shrine crosses a line that many believe should never have been approached in the first place.
Will Ubisoft Comply?
With the Itate Hyozu Jinja shrine formally requesting its removal from Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the question remains: will Ubisoft comply, or will it ignore yet another legitimate grievance from the very culture it claims to respect? Given the company’s track record and the game’s rapidly approaching release date, skepticism is warranted.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
This latest controversy only deepens the ongoing backlash against Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Between repeated delays, historical inaccuracies, a release date coinciding with the anniversary of a horrific domestic attack, and now the depiction of real-life religious vandalism, Ubisoft is rapidly alienating both fans and the people of Japan. If the company truly wants to prove it respects the culture it’s attempting to depict, removing the shrine should be the bare minimum step it takes.
Do you think Ubisoft will remove this shrine from Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
Frankly, and bear with me, because I am going to be labeled as apostate with this post, but this is probably the ONLY thing I would not criticize ANY, not even AC: Shadows for. Ability to destroy it’s surroundings… Well. Yea, that is a good thing. Even in AC: Vikings you could raid churches. And you don’t hear Christians/Vatican demanding to remove every temple, every church or cross from the game. Damn, Templars are the big baddies of the whole series.
Though what they did here is not even fun, just a wanton destruction serving no purpose. It’s just… stupid. Ubisoft really should not bent a knee here (I know, I know, they either will and be lauded as hypocrites, which they are or they won’t and be lauded as racists bigots, which they are anyway too). To be honest… AC: Shadows should be disbanded, cancelled, Ubisoft quartered and sold while Yves Guillemot thrown in the gutters from the backside exit.
I’ve posted a lot of stuff, a lot of it popular, but not all of it. We’re different from the woke in that we don’t always agree and we consider that okay. That’s how true diversity works.
Captain Picard said that the courtroom is a crucible where you burn away all irrelevancies until you’re left with a pure product – the truth – for all time. That’s how these discussions should go. Everyone talks, people throw in their opinions, debates and discussions happen, and people chisel away until we can find some compromise.
That’s how it was done on the streets of Ancient Greece and the taverns of early America, and it’s how we should do it now.
Awesome!!! Very well said, I see your posts on here and I usually read at least one when I do. Great analogy. 👍
🐰
This is kinda a dick move. For much that I hate Ubisoft if the destruction of churches is allowed then the same should be aplied to shrines or synagogues, no exceptions. After all it’s just a videogame, having more destructible environment in it is always a plus.
Yep. This smells like an attempt at censorship.
That would be treating all groups equally, and the woke never do that.
100% you’ll never see them let a mosque get destroyed.
Not all religions are as tolerant as Christianity, but they should treat religions equally. They’re going to learn quick that the only religion the woke are really okay with bashing is Christianity. (And they’re divided right now about Judaism.)
I used to watch Sourh Park, which is pretty good about treating ALL religions the same. I remember when they wanted to show Mohammad and Comedy Central blocked it.
What usually happens is that Christianity gets treated poorly and others do not, as foretold by Jesus Christ.
John 15 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
In other similar cases like the synagogue in Last of Us 2, the player cannot damage the place. The difference is that Ubisoft doesn’t view it as a sacred place. Hopefully they won’t remove it to further agitate people.
So the same people who claim to be amazingly politically correct and culturally sensitive are the most ignorant, shallow, and blatantly disrespectful people out there. Is anyone truly surprised by any of this? It’s time for the world to wake up from this fallacy theve pulled over our eyes. Never let this be forgotten again.
If non-Christians are considered to be demons, then destroying gods and Buddhas is right, but black people were already Christians and not slaves?
And if they attacked a shrine in Japan at that time that was not doing anything, it can be said with certainty that there would be no respect for black samurai or legends (samurai were particularly concerned about religious rites).
UBI calls Yasuke a soldier instead of a samurai for the Japanese audience, but in reality it is mocking him as a barbarian, so it is of poor quality.
[…] harm the French ∟But you can destroy ancient Japanese shrines ∟Japanese Shrine Demands Removal from Assassin’s Creed Shadows After Ubisoft Depicts Its Destructio… ∟Ubisoft Closes a ‘Star Wars: Outlaws’ Studio, Lays Off 185 Employees as Company’s […]