Assassin’s Creed Shadows apology not good enough, Japanese historical group tells Ubisoft

The Assassin’s Creed Shadows appropriated battle-flag controversy will not die down. Although Ubisoft apologized ro a Japanese historical group for using it, images of the flag will remain in a digital art book, and the group now says it’s not happy with just an apology here.

To recap, Ubisoft apologized on July 8, about a week it was discovered that the flag of a Japanese military re-enactment group, Sekigahara Teppo-tai (or Sekigahara Rifle Corps), was in the game without their knowledge or permission. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set in feudal Japan, roughly befo

Ubisoft said it was sorry and the flag would be pulled from the game, but not a hardcover art book being sold in a $279 collector’s edition packed with physical premiums.

This is presumably because that book has already been printed. Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches Nov. 12. That’s not good enough for Sekigahara Teppo-tai.

小耳に挟んだ情報なのですが、アサシンクリードシャドウのコンセプトアートの背景に関ケ原鉄砲隊が使用されているそうです。
実際に確認してみましたが、拡大すると確かに我々の使用している背旗が確認できました。
正直どのような反応をすれば良いのか悩むところです。#関ケ原鉄砲隊

— 影山＠関ケ原鉄砲隊 (@matchlock_kage) June 10, 2024

Translated, that is: “The Sekigahara Teppo-tai members discussed the matter again. We have asked Ubisoft to remove the image from the Collector’s Edition artbook. I’m not sure if this will be possible, but I’ve contacted Ubisoft through their support.”

The poster went on to note that the flag references leaders of The Battle of Sekigahara, which occurred about 21 years after the setting for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. IGN has images of the flag’s use in the artbook.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows criticized from its first reveal

The complaint is an extension of ongoing criticism of Assassin’s Creed Shadows as culturally insensitive — a topic many Japanese take very seriously. The game stars an African samurai who seems to be based on a real-life African who served a warlord around that time. It also stars an entirely fictitious female ninja.

A petition demanding Ubisoft cancel the game outright now has 83,000 signatures, even though there is no chance of Ubisoft spiking this AAA game four months before release, and especially for this kind of criticism. About 60,000 of those signatures have come in the last week.

Here, though, it’s unquestionably a bad look for Ubisoft, as it appears that western artists went Googling for Japanese battle flags, found one, and had no idea what they were working with, because it was only necessary to get one that looked Japanese.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will launch on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. It will also be available day one to Ubisoft+ subscribers.

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