Summary

  • The r/AssassinsCreed subreddit banned debates about Yasuke's samurai status.
  • "Feel free to take your displeasures elsewhere, away from this franchise and its communities," the mods said.
  • While some vocal social media users previously claimed Yasuke's inclusion hurts Assassin's Creed Shadows' "historical accuracy" and Japanese representation, others labeled those concerns as racist dog whistles.

The r/AssassinsCreed subreddit has banned Assassin's Creed Shadows debates about Yasuke's status as a samurai. The mods of the largest AC community on Reddit characterized the move as a response to an influx of "bad faith" arguments that have been pouring onto the sub ever since Assassin's Creed Shadows was revealed.

Some vocal social media users have previously taken issue with the upcoming game's inclusion of African samurai Yasuke as one of its two leads. Even though he's the first-ever Assassin's Creed protagonist to be based on a real person, those opinions painted his inclusion as detrimental to the game's "historical accuracy" and robbing Japanese audiences of additional representation in a feudal Japan-era setting. Such talking points have been parroted far and wide since May 2024, as reflected in the fact that even Elon Musk ended up criticizing Assassin's Creed Shadows for its perceived "wokeness," a sentiment that Ubisoft later characterized as "feeding hatred."

Assassins Creed Shadows Yasuke
Assassin's Creed Shadows: 6 Things You Need To Know About Yasuke

One of Assassin's Creed Shadows' main characters, Yasuke, is an actual historical figure.

By 

R/AssassinsCreed Subreddit Is Sick of 'Historical Accuracy' Arguments

The r/AssassinsCreed subreddit has banned all talk about Yasuke's status as a samurai and the upcoming game's overall historical accuracy on July 28. "We are all exhausted of this tedious discussion that has been endlessly talked to death," the mods wrote, adding that these debates were exacerbated by Ubisoft's recent response to Assassin's Creed Shadows criticism, which saw the company acknowledge the real-world Yasuke might not have been a warrior despite having the status of a samurai.

The mods also reiterated Ubisoft's official stance about the Assassin's Creed franchise never being intended as anything but historical fiction, hence concluding that criticizing Yasuke's inclusion from a historical perspective was an exercise in futility. "There was never any point to these discussions to begin with outside of thinly [veiled] bad faith intent," the message reads. The post banning the historical accuracy debates was locked less than two hours after going live in the morning hours ET on July 28, with mods citing vote brigading as the reason for that move.

Feel free to take your displeasures elsewhere, away from this franchise and its communities.

Some fans have previously labeled debates over Yasuke's role in Assassin's Creed Shadows as racist dog whistles. This ban underlines the popularity of that sentiment, and marks the 718,000-strong subreddit's biggest attempt at cracking down on such "concern trolling" to date. "Feel free to take your displeasures elsewhere, away from this franchise and its communities," the ban's announcement concludes.

The backlash over Yasuke does not appear to have impacted the game's pre-release momentum. On the contrary, Ubisoft is reportedly happy with its pre-order performance, and even the most expensive, $280 editions of Assassin's Creed Shadows have already been sold out in some places since May 2024. The game itself is scheduled for release on November 15.

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Assassin’s Creed Shadows

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Open-World
Action-Adventure
RPG
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Systems
PlayStation-1 Xbox-1
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Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 82%
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Released
November 15, 2024
ESRB
m
Developer(s)
Ubisoft Quebec
Publisher(s)
Ubisoft
Engine
AnvilNext
Franchise
Assassin's Creed
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Experience an epic historical action-adventure story set in feudal Japan! Become a lethal shinobi Assassin and a powerful legendary samurai as you explore a beautiful open world in a time of chaos. Switch seamlessly between two unlikely allies as you discover their common destiny. Master complementary playstyles, create your shinobi league, customize your hideout, and usher in a new era for Japan.

Genre(s)
Open-World, Action-Adventure, RPG