Assassin’s Creed Shadows dev says the open-world game aims to be “respectful as possible to Japanese culture, but creative choices are made on our side”

“We are working with experts”

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Ubisofthas offered some mixed messages in response to the criticism ofBlack Samurai Yasukein the lead-up toAssassin’s Creed Shadows.One dev called out Elon Musk for “feeding hatred"in the whole ordeal, while a month laterUbisoft apologized for promotional material that “caused concern within the Japanese community.“More recently, another dev has defended the studio’s “creative choices” while noting its heavy reliance on Japanese experts.

“Of course we’re making creative choices,” art director Thierry Dansereau toldEurogamerat Gamescom. “It’s a video game in the end, so we want to make the best experience possible for our players.” Dansereau noted that the team has “worked with Osaka and Tokyo studios [who’ve acted] as consultants. One of their art directors is involved and doing research in the field. We went there, we did a field trip as well, and we have Japanese experts living in Japan.”

Dansereau added, “There was a letter published by Ubisoft apologising to that group of people in Japan. But something they need to know is we are working with experts, world-renowned experts, and if we have in any way offended [people] we are sorry but this is not the goal. We’ve paid a lot of attention to stay as respectful as possible to Japanese culture, but creative choices are made on our side, based on all the discussions we had with our own group of experts. We’re confident with how the game will be received.”

However the character ends up being portrayed, Yasuke’s appearance in Assassin’s Creed Shadows has generated no shortage of opinions. Even veteranCapcomdeveloper Yoshiki Okamoto weighed in, saying thebacklash was overblown because “it’s a game, it’s fantasy, not reality.“Nonetheless, the vitriol has gotten intense enough thatUbisoft’s CEO was denouncing “hateful acts” toward the company’s developersjust a few months ago.

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Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He’s been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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