Assassin’s Creed Shadows Making Yasuke Mostly Optional
Ubisoft is pulling out all the stops to get people to give Assassin’s Creed Shadows a try. The game has come under fire since the first trailer debuted because one of the two playable protagonists is Yasuke, a historical figure incorporated into the game. Yasuke was a black man who acted as a vassal for Nobunaga, but in the game, he is a samurai, which is taken from a very dubious historical account by a discredited historian. (The historian in question, to the surprise of zero people, was a left-wing white Westerner who was discredited by Japanese historians.) Gamers who were looking forward to an Assassin’s Creed game set in feudal Japan weren’t thrilled with having the lead be a black man instead of a Japanese man, especially when the supposed historical account was as flimsy as Yasuke’s. The controversy – which was bolstered by numerous other historical inaccuracies due to laziness – has resulted in a bad forecast for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which has been delayed twice so far for retooling. The game is now set to be released on March 20, 2025, and rumors have been swirling that Ubisoft has used the extra time to minimize Yasuke’s presence. Now, we have some confirmation about this via a Screen Rant interview with the game’s director, Jonathan Dumont:
“They get individual introductions and then they get their own questline also. So that one is, let’s say Naoe, a personal questline cannot be played by Yasuke and those are two distinct things. But the core of the game can be pick your character and the game adapts… So if you prefer one character for any reason, you can play maybe – I don’t know, I’m not going to put a percentage – but quite a bit of the game using one of them.”
Well, how about that? I was dubious about reports that the extended development period would minimize Yasuke’s presence in Assassin’s Creed Shadows too much; he’s one of two leads, so they’d almost have to remake the game to accomplish that. Still, it’s undeniable that he was pushed into the background in the new promotional material, and the skills of the other main character, Naoe, were being emphasized. The latter happens again in this Screen Rant interview, in which Dumont plays up the classic Assassin’s Creed parkour stealth feature, something Yasuke won’t be able to do. But his confirming that you will be able to play the majority of the game as the character of your choice is the biggest news; Dumont doesn’t get too specific, but this is obviously meant to allow pissed-off gamers to opt out of playing as Yasuke for the bulk of the game in the hopes of drawing in as many as possible. How much of the game lets you choose your hero is unknown; Screen Rant says they were told 80-90%, but Dumont waffles, hesitant to declare a percentage. That probably means 80-90% was an exaggeration, which only solidifies that they’re doing this over the bad response to Yasuke. But the fact that Ubisoft did this in the first place is a big deal, a capitulation to angry fans.
There can be little doubt that this was the main focus of the extended production, along with fixing bugs and whatnot. Everyone knew it would be impossible to cut Yasuke from Assassin’s Creed Shadows completely; it’d be way too expensive to essentially remake the whole game, and they’d be pilloried in the press for what would be called racism. This was probably their smartest option: make Yasuke’s presence in Assassin’s Creed Shadows as a playable character optional for as much of the game as possible. Giving gamers a choice always comes off well, and it’s the best way to try to please everybody. It doesn’t erase the past few months, and it’s obviously a business decision more than an attempt to change course, but what else could they do this late in development? I doubt it’ll work to the degree Ubisoft needs it to, but maybe it’ll make the likely underperformance of Assassin’s Creed Shadows sting a little less. At this point, they’re pretty much throwing buckets of water over the deck of a sinking ship.
Let us know what you think of Assassin’s Creed Shadows letting you choose not to play as Yasuke in the comments!
***
If you want to know what kind of political leanings movies have or just talk about cinema, check out the movie ratings community Criticless.
Get Your Geeks + Gamers merch here!
