A video appeared on the channel of the Japanese branch of IGN, in which Ubisoft narrative director Brooke Davies tries to explain that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is “fiction” based on historical events and figures.
“Our story is fiction. History and our understanding of it is the palette onto which we try to fit our interpretation of history. We cannot bring anything in from outside, and we try to work with this palette.”
Davies openly stated that the story of Shadows is a fabrication by the writers, based on what they learned after speaking with historians and consultants.
Japanese commentators were not particularly pleased with how loosely Ubisoft treats the history of their country:
“This is fiction only for Japan. In other regions you say: ‘This is true, based on historical events’.”
“Do I understand correctly that by Japanese history Ubisoft means a Black guy coming to Japan and killing Japanese people?”
“There is no doubt that Ubisoft and IGN see nothing wrong with discrimination against Japanese people.”
“‘I hope people who are familiar with Japanese history enjoy the game.’ Are you out of your mind or what?”
“Ubisoft constantly worries so much about discrimination against Black people, but couldn’t care less about discrimination against Japanese people.”
“This is how the West rewrites history.”
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Image author: IGN. Image source: YouTube