(UPDATE) Ubisoft’s apology for stolen imagery in Assassin’s Creed Shadows followed by further call for revision of Collector’s Edition artbook
UPDATE: It is since been announced that Ubisoft will remove the visible incidence of the flag in the Assassin’s Creed Collector’s Edition artbook- read the article here.
On July 8, Ubisoft apologized to Japanese re-enactment group Sekigahara Teppo-tai for using their flag without permission in concept art for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows, saying that the offending artwork will not be reused. However, as of July 11, the Sekigahara Teppo-tai is calling on Ubisoft to remove the artwork containing the flag from the Collector’s Edition artbook.
The Sekigahara Teppo-tai (literally Sekigahara Rifle Corps) is a historical re-enactment group made up of volunteers who perform at Sekigahara, the site of one of the most important battles in Japanese history, as well as at other festivals and events around the country. They specialize in re-enacting and raising awareness of how matchlock rifles were used in battle in feudal Japan.
Back on June 10, the X account of the current leader of the Sekigahara Teppo-tai posted that it had come to their attention that the group’s flag had been used without permission in a piece of Assassin’s Creed Shadows concept art. They contacted Ubisoft about this, and the game company subsequently issued the following apology on the Ubisoft Japan X account on July 8:
Except for its inclusion in the Collector’s Edition artbook, the artwork will not be used or distributed beyond this date. We deeply apologize for this matter.
However, it seems that the Sekigahara Teppo-tai group is not satisfied with the response from Ubisoft. On July 11, the group leader posted that they will try to get Ubisoft to remove the image from the Collector’s Edition artbook.
Below is the image from the artbook, with a close-up of the Sekigahara Teppo-tai’s flag, contrasted against a picture of the real flag posted on X.
From the extensive thread of posts from the Sekigahara Teppo-tai leader, it seems that the group received many messages regarding the flag and Assassin’s Creed Shadows over the past month. As an aside, the leader pointed out that the flag, which references military leaders during the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) would be anachronistic in the game’s 1579 setting. Japan would go through a lot of upheaval during the years between 1579 and 1600, as Oda Nobunaga and then Toyotomi Hideyoshi tried and failed to unify Japan. Tokugawa Ieyasu would ultimately succeed, becoming shogun in 1603, with the Battle of Sekigahara being an important decisive battle.
Criticism of historical inaccuracies and the game’s portrayal of Japan have been rife on the internet since the very first trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows was revealed back in May. However, the Sekigahara Teppo-tai leader pointed out in another post that they don’t intend to take up this historical inaccuracy with Ubisoft, stating that the game is fantasy after all. They are solely concerned about Ubisoft using their flag without permission. “What is important to us is that the flag design is recognized as belonging to the Sekigahara Teppo-tai,” they posted on X.
As of July 12 at 12:34pm (JST), the Sekigahara Teppo-tai leader stated on X that they have no progress to report yet. It remains to be seen whether or not Ubisoft will remove the artwork from the Assassin’s Creed Shadows Collector’s Edition artbook.
Even if a game is ‘fantasy’, if it borrows from history then it should at least get the facts and chronology correct!