Ubisoft Needs to Cancel Assassin’s Creed Shadows, According to a Group of Japanese Gamers

Assassin's Creed Shadows needs to be canceled by Ubisoft, according to a group of Japanese gamers.

Following the reveal of Shadows (previously dubbed Assassin's Creed: Red) back in May of this year, plenty of 'fans' took to social media to discuss Ubisoft's choice for the game's main protagonists. Not only has there been a vocal discussion about character representation, but a group of Japanese gamers also seemingly don't agree with the game's historical accuracy and the lack of cultural respect from Ubisoft. As a matter of fact, there's now a Japanese petition on Charge.org that demands Ubisoft to cancel the title.

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"Recently, a serious issue of historical accuracy and lack of cultural respect has been raised about game developer Ubisoft's upcoming release, Assassin's Creed Shadows", the creators of the petition write (roughly translated). "The game is based on the subject of Japanese samurai and ignores the fact that samurai are a higher class of samurai and should be "gokemono" or servants of nobility. In fact, the first European to receive the title of samurai, William Adams (Miura Anobori), was a bannerman with 250 koku and served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Throughout this history, Ubisoft continues to misunderstand the nature and role of the Samurai.

According to the group, this misunderstanding about the nature and role of the historical Samurai is a serious insult to Japanese history and culture, which could lead to Asian racism. "We demand that Ubisoft immediately stop the release of "Assassin's Creed Shadows" and show serious investigation and respect for Japanese history and culture", the group writes.

At the moment of writing, more the petition has over 28.300 signatures with the next goal being 35.000 signatures. Out of those 28.300, more than 13.500 people signed the petition today.

It's unlikely that this petition will have effect on the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows later this year, but