Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Japanese Steam page drops term “samurai” from Yasuke’s description
Following last week’s postponement of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ release from February 14 to March 20, Ubisoft updated the game’s Steam page accordingly. However, for the Japanese page alone, it seems they also quietly adjusted the text to remove the word “samurai” from the description of Yasuke.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the first title in Ubisoft’s long running series to be set in Japan, featuring dual protagonists Naoe and Yasuke. However, since the game’s announcement, it has received backlash both in Japan and overseas for controversies related to historical accuracy and unauthorized use of imagery. Yasuke has been the subject of wide-ranging opinions- ranging from those who dislike Ubisoft’s decision to include a non-Japanese protagonist character in a game set in Japan, to others who are looking forward to the fresh perspective.
Although Yasuke was a real person associated with Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga, it has been a topic of debate as to whether he was a samurai or rather a bodyguard who worked for the warlord. In Ubisoft’s official description of the game on their website in both English and Japanese, Yasuke is described as “the powerful African samurai of historical legend.”
On the English language Steam page too, he is a “legendary samurai.” However, after Ubisoft updated the Steam page last week, the word “samurai” vanished from Yasuke’s description, but only on the Japanese version of the page. He is now a “great warrior” (literally, a warrior capable of besting a thousand). This rewording decision might have been made in light of the backlash against the game. However, at the time of writing, the official Japanese website, Epic Games Store, PlayStation Store, and Microsoft Store all still describe him as a samurai.
Strangely, information about the pre-order bonus quest called Thrown to the Dogs and the DLC Claws of Awaji (the latter was added briefly on January 9) have also since been removed from the Steam page description- although that doesn’t mean they have been cancelled.
Incidentally, the main reason given for Assassins Creed Shadows’ postponement to March was to implement customer feedback. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the final release.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is scheduled to be released on March 20 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Mac.
Written by Verity Townsend based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2025-01-15 14:13 JST)
