Assassin’s Creed Shadows Steals More Artifacts While Yasuke’s False History is Exposed

Video Games

It keeps getting worse for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the next entry in Ubisoft’s video game series, which is set in feudal Japan. After they used Chinese architecture instead of Japanese and used the flag of a reenactment group without permission – not to mention the problems with Yasuke – reports are now coming in from Japan Expo that Ubisoft is stealing more artifacts. First is a katana they used for Yasuke at the Expo, which is actually a katana from the One Piece manga. You can see images of the foul-up below, courtesy of Mark Kern:

Holy Crap!

@Ubisoft ripped off One Piece, gives fake-samurai Yasuke Roronoa Zoro’s katana at Japan Expo.

That’s going to piss of even more Japanese.

I’m getting sent a FLOOD of references for what Assassin’s Creed Shadows has ripped off from Japanese artist. But this is the… pic.twitter.com/FpCjMUYoKg

— Grummz (@Grummz) July 13, 2024

They bought the stand from Amazon… https://t.co/UIxHZiEY8c

— Grummz (@Grummz) July 13, 2024

Ubisoft: “We hired experts and historians…we spared no expense…we respect the Japanese.”

Also Ubisoft: “We decided that giving our fake samurai a $39 dollar Katana from One Piece was the best way to represent our respect and AAAA budget.” pic.twitter.com/PjEnZv8J7p

— Grummz (@Grummz) July 13, 2024

Another user, @SachikoLibra, pointed out a different problem with the sword’s use in relation to Assassin’s Creed Shadows:

The characters written on the base of the sword are from the esoteric Buddhism, a branch of Buddhism. Why is Yasuke, a black man who is not a Buddhist, following Buddhist beliefs?

— 祥子@⚡ ‍☠️ (@SachikoLibra) July 12, 2024

And it doesn’t end there; more reports of pilfered artifacts are coming in:

So @Ubisoft has raided Japanese culture, appropriating vast swaths of it without permission, and they are very very upset! It was not approached with any respect.

Lantern and other artifacts taken without permission, this is one of MANY examples Japanese keep sending me.

But… pic.twitter.com/cH6ItSNobm

— Grummz (@Grummz) July 13, 2024

On the plus side, nobody at the Japan Expo seems to be interested in Assassin’s Creed Shadow:

The bad news and outright awful mistakes Ubisoft is making are just piling up. There is more than what I can post in a day.

The Assassin’s Creed booth was empty at Japan Expo compared to the other crowded booths.

Even the French don’t seem to be excited for this game. pic.twitter.com/mklqHztYHb

— Grummz (@Grummz) July 13, 2024

Aside from what’s going on at the Expo, the edited Wikipedia entry about Yasuke to support the notion that he was a historical samurai has been exposed as being edited by a British historian named Thomas Lockley. These edits seem to have been in service of a book about Yasuke that Lockley was writing, which was published in 2019. You can read about his phony historical account of Yasuke here. According to @mangalawyer, Lockley has left social media now that he’s been caught:

Insane! Thomas Lockey, responsible for Japan’s major deception about Yasuke, was caught editing Wikipedia since 2015. He has since quit social media and claimed he will never play AC Shadows. Portrayed as a hero by the media, he’s now seen as Japan’s biggest historical scammer! pic.twitter.com/JCCTgW7BPr

— LearningTheLaw (@Mangalawyer) July 13, 2024

What a disaster for Ubisoft. They’ve proven they care nothing about Japanese culture or historical accuracy despite making a historical figure the lead character in the game. They’ve been stealing flags, swords, and other artifacts, not even making sure they were around during the game’s setting. And they and their journalist allies were calling anyone who didn’t like it a racist. If there’s one thing to remember from this, it’s that DEI and everything like it is an insincere smokescreen, a weapon with which to force a sociopolitical agenda and attack anyone who doesn’t want it in their entertainment. Its purveyors don’t care about the lofty values they pretend to hold, and nothing they say to you should make you feel worse about yourself. You’re better than them, and they know it… and I suspect they’ll know it even more when Assassin’s Creed Shadows goes on sale, particularly in Japan.