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The drama continues: Ubisoft removed the Samurai description of Yasuke on Steam page, but only for Japan store

LectureMaster

Gold Member

Google Translate:

Assassin's Creed: Shadows' description of Yasuke is expressed as "A warrior worth a thousand men" only in the Japanese Steam version. The "samurai" spelling remains unchanged in other languages and on the official website, resulting in harsh criticism on social media over the inconsistency.​



Only the Japanese version of the Steam store page is labeled "Ikki Tousen no Hei"​

"Assassin's Creed Shadows" is the latest installment of the "Assassin's Creed" series, scheduled to be released by Ubisoft on March 20, 2025. Set in the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japan, the game features two protagonists: Naoe, a ninja and assassin from Iga, and Yasuke, a formidable African soldier.

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It is unclear when the correction was made, but it is believed to have been made when the store page was updated in response to the announcement of the delay on January 10th, and the term "samurai" was subsequently changed to "a warrior worth a thousand men." However, the description "a strong African samurai passed down through history" on the official Japanese website remains as of the time of writing, and other store pages in other languages still use terms similar to samurai, including "legendary samurai."

In response to this inconsistent situation, there have been many harsh comments on social media, such as "Isn't this a trick for Japan?", and some media outlets have pursued the issue before our magazine could. In light of the situation, our magazine has asked Ubisoft for a comment on the intention behind this change.

 

Jinzo Prime

Member

Google Translate:

Assassin's Creed: Shadows' description of Yasuke is expressed as "A warrior worth a thousand men" only in the Japanese Steam version. The "samurai" spelling remains unchanged in other languages and on the official website, resulting in harsh criticism on social media over the inconsistency.​



Only the Japanese version of the Steam store page is labeled "Ikki Tousen no Hei"​

"Assassin's Creed Shadows" is the latest installment of the "Assassin's Creed" series, scheduled to be released by Ubisoft on March 20, 2025. Set in the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japan, the game features two protagonists: Naoe, a ninja and assassin from Iga, and Yasuke, a formidable African soldier.

945446.png

945448.png


It is unclear when the correction was made, but it is believed to have been made when the store page was updated in response to the announcement of the delay on January 10th, and the term "samurai" was subsequently changed to "a warrior worth a thousand men." However, the description "a strong African samurai passed down through history" on the official Japanese website remains as of the time of writing, and other store pages in other languages still use terms similar to samurai, including "legendary samurai."

In response to this inconsistent situation, there have been many harsh comments on social media, such as "Isn't this a trick for Japan?", and some media outlets have pursued the issue before our magazine could. In light of the situation, our magazine has asked Ubisoft for a comment on the intention behind this change.

Just like the Saudi version of Spider-Man.

Spineless.
 

Kuranghi

Gold Member
The environments look ace, nice physics on some items during combat* and the latest combat video make it look much better than the dogshit they showed before, but outside that it's probably going to be mince, same trash facial animations for 90% of the characters they've had since Origins.

*Much older 3rd person lite-RPG games have done this already ofc.

So basically it's a game you should buy if you want to walk around a meticulously crafted and beautiful open world... but not actually play the game proper lmao. For me it's been like this since Origins though 😕

I still remember the nightmare-children from Origins and Valhalla *shudders*. Maybe Odyssey had the same issue, I don't recall if it had childers in it, dropped it after 15 hours due to the weapon and armor upgrade system being such a chore if you didn't want to just constantly pick up current level whites/greens all the time.

It's hilarious that Yotei is going to release the same year as this, probably within 6 months of it: RIP AC:Shadows.
 

viveks86

Member
Truly legendary. As in, doesn't exist, even in legends. I don't know why they can't just take the L and market this as a "what-if" alternate historical fiction instead of doubling down on Thomas Lockley's fantasy. I have no issues playing as a black samurai. Heck, that sounds cool, even if the Japanese disagree. But peddling fantasy as history is a bit irritating.
 
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Despite the mountain of evidence, simps will continue to claim there is nothing political and there was no agenda behind Ubisoft's decisions with this game.

That, and the "people just want/need to shit on this game" like I've seen some users saying even in here...

Personal opinion : this game will flop and it will be a reoccurring joke in forums/social media just like Concord, the damage Ubisoft has done to their own game verges on self sabotage, they only got themselves to blame, not the "chuds", not the "anti-woke", not the "RaCisTs", this is a pure, self inflicted wound through and through, it's just gaffe after gaffe, they just can't help themselves.
 
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Z O N E

Member
They reworked the wording for both characters between regions a bit.


Steam US:
Become a shinobi assassin and legendary samurai

Steam JP:
Become a ninja assassin and a warrior of a thousand warriors

Wait... So instead of calling her a Shinobi in the Japanese description which is the NATIVE Japanese word for it and the word that has been used since the 8th Century...

They instead use the Chinese Kanji "Ninja" to describe her in the Japanese description, which Japan only started using in the 20th Century...

The game is set in the 15th Century.

Come on Ubisoft... You don't need to be a historical genius to know that...

Only the Japanese version of the Steam store page is labeled "Ikki Tousen no Hei"​



That Japanese backlash was real then if they went this far just to rename the Japanese version.
 

Tajaz2426

Psychology PhD from Wikipedia University
Do these absolute morons even realize the world is connected instantly? This is not the damn 50s where you went to farmers and said city dwellers suck and did the same with city folk.

Idiocracy, people. We have become the damn movie in real time.
 
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PeteBull

Member
Do these absolute morons even realize the world is connected instantly? This is the damn 50s where you went to farmers and said city dwellers suck and did the same with city folk.

Idiocracy, people. We have become the damn movie in real time.
Thx to feminism we have most inteligent/smartest women focusing on their carriers and only marring after 30yo, having 1 or no babies on avg, ofc populations IQ gonna get lower over time =/
 

Generic

Member

Google Translate:

Assassin's Creed: Shadows' description of Yasuke is expressed as "A warrior worth a thousand men" only in the Japanese Steam version. The "samurai" spelling remains unchanged in other languages and on the official website, resulting in harsh criticism on social media over the inconsistency.​



Only the Japanese version of the Steam store page is labeled "Ikki Tousen no Hei"​

"Assassin's Creed Shadows" is the latest installment of the "Assassin's Creed" series, scheduled to be released by Ubisoft on March 20, 2025. Set in the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japan, the game features two protagonists: Naoe, a ninja and assassin from Iga, and Yasuke, a formidable African soldier.

945446.png

945448.png


It is unclear when the correction was made, but it is believed to have been made when the store page was updated in response to the announcement of the delay on January 10th, and the term "samurai" was subsequently changed to "a warrior worth a thousand men." However, the description "a strong African samurai passed down through history" on the official Japanese website remains as of the time of writing, and other store pages in other languages still use terms similar to samurai, including "legendary samurai."

In response to this inconsistent situation, there have been many harsh comments on social media, such as "Isn't this a trick for Japan?", and some media outlets have pursued the issue before our magazine could. In light of the situation, our magazine has asked Ubisoft for a comment on the intention behind this change.

This kind of self-censorship is ridiculous.
 

Woopah

Member
Have a character creator for the player character. Have a nice side quest where Yasuke can accompany you. Done.
So side character = apolitical, main character = political. Am I understanding correctly?

And if that's correct, would you say that also applies to white characters in media set in medieval Japan?
 
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