Ubisoft has reportedly canceled an Assassin’s Creed game set during the Post American Civil War Reconstruction era. According to a report from Game File, the project was scrapped in 2024 after the company faced backlash over the Black samurai Yasuke in Assassin’s Creed Shadows and grew nervous about the political climate in the United States.
Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows has suffered what could be its most devastating blow yet—physical copies of the game have leaked nearly a month before its official release on March 20, 2025. The leak has led to widespread spoilers, unauthorized gameplay streams, and black market sales, dealing a potentially catastrophic hit to Ubisoft’s already precarious financial standing.
Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows just can’t catch a break. Amidst months of controversy over historical inaccuracies and cultural missteps, indie developer HistoryAccurateDevelopers has announced Yasuke Simulator, a parody game set to launch on Steam on March 20, 2025—the exact same day Assassin’s Creed Shadows is scheduled to release.
Ubisoft’s release of its Q3 FY25 earnings report (UBISOFT REPORTS THIRD-QUARTER 2024-25 SALES) confirms what many have feared—the company’s financial troubles are only getting worse.
Ubisoft appears to be making a last-ditch effort to salvage Assassin’s Creed Shadows, now telling players they can skip playing as Yasuke, the game’s controversial Black samurai protagonist, “for any reason.” This phrasing, used by creative director Jonathan Dumont in a recent interview with Screen Rant, has many interpreting it as Ubisoft quietly acknowledging the widespread dissatisfaction with Yasuke’s inclusion and trying to placate frustrated fans.
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.
A leaked Ubisoft internal email shows company higher ups attempting to explain recent studio closures and layoffs to the remaining employees.
A That Park Place source has confirmed that Ubisoft delayed Assassin’s Creed Shadows in order to make narrative cuts that severely limit the role of Yasuke in the story.
Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been under fire for months, but the controversy has now escalated into censorship allegations. Japanese YouTuber Shohei Kondo had his gameplay critique of Assassin’s Creed Shadows removed from YouTube a reported 12 times, with “hate speech” cited as the reason for the takedown.
Ubisoft, once a beacon of innovation and creativity in the gaming industry, continues its precipitous decline with the recent announcement of significant studio closures and widespread layoffs. The company’s struggles, marked by failed game launches, internal controversies, and strategic missteps, have culminated in a series of actions that signal a desperate attempt to salvage what remains of its once-thriving empire.
A delay that cost Ubisoft an additional $20 million to improve and polish Assassin’s Creed Shadows has done little to sway public opinion as shown in a recent stream on YouTube.
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.
The end might be near for Ubisoft. The year has barely started, and it seems as though the former giant of the gaming industry is showing more signs of decline as it seemingly prepares for bankruptcy ahead of the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows. In our previous...