In Ubisoft's latest release of Assassin's Creed: Shadows, the game is centered around a two-story story, with players choosing to play as either the fictional female ninja Naojiang or the historical figure Yasuke. Yasuke's appearance in the trailer as Oda Nobunaga's African retainer sparked heated discussions in the community, and Ubisoft's stock price plummeted by 16.95%.
The game's two-line story design gives players the opportunity to experience two different perspectives, but Yasuke's character choice is considered a mandatory choice for the game's makers in the current politically correct climate. This is a departure from the past tradition of using fictional characters in the Assassin's Creed series, causing discontent among players and controversy in the community.
Shortly after the official Ubisoft trailer was released, negative reviews rose rapidly, and many Western gamers were dissatisfied with the character selection (220,000 likes, 380,000 dislikes). In Japan, this dissatisfaction is even more pronounced, with the number of negative reviews far outnumbering the positive reviews (02,600 likes and 24,000 dislikes).
Netizens expressed sympathy for Japanese culture in the comments of the Ubisoft Japan trailer, arguing that the Assassin's Creed series should use Japanese characters instead of black characters when venturing into Asian stories. It's blatant cultural theft, disrespect for the local, the culture, the player.
The international version of the trailer has also been questioned, with many people not understanding why Ubisoft didn't choose a native Japanese as the main character. In an interview with Famitsu, the game team said that they thought it was an interesting idea to have an outsider tell the history of Japan, and that Yasuke's identity as a Portuguese was a perfect fit for the character and would spark interest in Japanese culture.
Although Yasuke has appeared in other games and anime related to Japanese history, such as Nobunaga's Nobo, Sengoku Warriors 5, Nioh 2, and Samurai with Exploding Head (William in Nioh is based on the white samurai Miura), Ubisoft's character choices as a non-Japanese manufacturer have indeed caused more controversy in today's circumstances. The historical record of whether Yasuke was a samurai or not is unclear, which is controversial on Wikipedia.
The impact of the game's controversy also rippled through Ubisoft's stock market performance, with Ubisoft's stock price falling sharply after the trailer was released, falling by 16.95% in one day. Although Ubisoft has just turned a profit, it seems that the investment market is not optimistic about Ubisoft right now.