Assassin's Creed Shadows lands in trouble ahead of March release

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows has landed in another trouble as officials of Japan’s Itate Hyozu Shrine announced plans to take action against the game.

Controversy erupted when a video showed Yasuke, a playable character in the Ubisoft title, breaking into the shrine and demolishing the altar and other items in the space, as per a gaming website.

The viral video of the character destroying the shrine had left several fuming over what they believed was a disrespect to the shrine and its followers.

Officials of Itate Hyozu Shrine in Japan have announced plans to take action against Assassin’s Creed Shadows over the viral video from the game.

According to officials of the Japanese shrine, they were not consulted about its inclusion in the game.

“If they had contacted us, we would have refused,” local media outlets quoted an official as saying.

A similar controversy erupted last year when several demanded the game to be cancelled due to the lack of historical accuracy.

The plotline of Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be set in feudal Japan with two playable characters. The first protagonist will be a female shinobi named Naoe and the male samurai, Yasuke.

Japanese gamers created a petition that attracted over 40,000 signatures, complaining how samurai as a whole are portrayed in the game.

“Recently, the lack of historical accuracy and cultural respect has been a serious issue regarding the upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Shadows by game developer Ubisoft,” the petition by creator Shimizu Toru stated.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft is set to release Assassin’s Creed Shadows on March 20 after delaying the game for the second time.

The game was initially set for a launch on November 15, 2024, however, Ubisoft later delayed the game to February 14 due to what the developer called quality concerns related to poor performance for Star Wars Outlaws.