It’a a no show for Ubisoft (Ubisoft)
Without giving any explanation as to why, Ubisoft has pulled out of this year’s Tokyo Game Show days before it was set to go ahead.
Despite having an Assassin’s Creed game set in Japan, which is due to launch in two months, Ubisoft has suddenly cancelled its plans for the Tokyo Game Show.
Just two days before the event was set to kick off on Thursday, September 26, Ubisoft Japan announced it was no longer going ahead with its planned online stream, where it was expected to show off Assassin’s Creed Shadows and updates for XDefiant.
In a translated version of Ubisoft’s statement, the company cites ‘various circumstances’ as the reason for the cancellation – but it doesn’t give any specifics.
While there’s a chance this could be related to something else, it’s very likely that this is a move to avoid any more blowback against Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which has caused a stir in certain circles.
When the game was originally announced, there was a predictable wave of online backlash against the game’s dual protagonists: an African samurai named Yasuke, who is a real historical figure, and a fictional female shinobi named Naoe.
This was followed by a petition from Japanese fans who called for the game to be cancelled due to concerns over historical accuracy – even though Assassin’s Creed has always played fast and loose with its depictions of historical figures and Yasuke has featured in a number of manga and anime over the years.
While the criticism appears to be from a vocal minority, Ubisoft hasn’t exactly handled the situation well so far – with a vague apology in July to the ‘Japanese community’ only making the situation worse.
‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows is first and foremost, designed to be an entertaining video game that tells a compelling, historical fiction set in Feudal Japan,’ the developer’s post read. ‘Our team extensively collaborated with external consultants, historians, researchers, and internal teams at Ubisoft Japan to inform our creative choices.
‘Despite these sustained efforts, we acknowledge that some elements in our promotional materials have caused concern within the Japanese community. For this, we sincerely apologise. All the game footage presented so far is in development and the game will keep evolving until launch.’
It now doesn’t seem like Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be shown in any capacity at the Tokyo Game Show, with Ubisoft not listed amongst the event’s public exhibitors.
With the Tokyo Game Show stream cancelled, there’s every chance Assassin’s Creed Shadows could instead pop up at Sony’s State Of Play presentation, which is set to take place on Tuesday night.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is developed by Ubisoft Quebec, who were the team behind Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Immortals Fenyx Rising. The game is set to be released on November 15, across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Yasuke is one of two playable protagonists (Ubisoft)
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