Petition to ban Assassin’s Creed Shadows is missing the point
From one storm in a teacup to another, Ubisoft will now likely be aware of a petition to cancel Assassin’s Creed’s Shadows before release. 40,000 people have signed so far.
Since Ubisoft unveiled the next entry in the Assassin’s Creed franchise last May, select portions of the gaming community have been gunning for its demise.
Set in the fascinating and volatile era of feudal Japan, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will see players embody African samurai Yusake — whose name appears in real historical records — and Naoe, a fictional female ninja.
Now, as someone who’s long in the tooth with gaming discourse, it was completely expected that a wave of criticism citing forced diversity would rear its head from certain circles. Immediately after its reveal at the Xbox Games Showcase (which banged, by the way), the whinging started on Twitter (X) and Reddit.
In recent weeks, however, the loudest complaints regarding Ubisoft’s upcoming title point to a supposed lack of cultural respect and historical accuracy. A petition calling for the game to be scrapped has amassed 40,000 signatures at the time of writing.
