The highly-anticipated Assassin's Creed Shadows has sparked controversy over cultural representation with fans unhappy about the game set in 16th centuryJapanfeaturing an African samurai.
The latest installment in Ubisoft Quebec's franchise, due to be released on 15 November, will take gamers to 16th century Japan and will feature two main characters - a female Japanese shinobi or warrior, Nanoe, and, for the first time ever, a real-life historical samurai, Yasuke.
However, the decision to include Yasuke, a samurai of African origin who entered Japan enslaved by the Portuguese and served under the Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga, has divided the gaming community.
Backlash has mounted over the decision to make the first real-life character ever to feature in the game an African samurai, with one claiming it makes Assassin's Creed complicit in 'erasing Asian male presence from western media'.
Another has decribed it as 'forced diversity', while one fan explained: 'As an Asian, I don't care that we have a black protagonist. I'm just disappointed I still can't play a male Asian assassin.'
Assassin's Creed Shadows has sparked a debate on cultural representation after Ubisoft revealed that the game features an African samurai (pictured)
The gaming company said they wanted to feature Yasuke because his open-ended story allowed for creativity.
There is little information available about Yasuke, with his birth name being unknown, according to Britannica. However, he was the first known foreigner to achieve Samurai status.
In 2021, Netflix released an anime series based on him, titled Yasuke.
Ubisoft Quebec explained: 'There must have been something exceptional about Yasuke to succeed... and the goal has been to expound on this in Assassin's Creed Shadows through his curiosity, openness, respect for values and tradition, valour, warmth, and charisma.'
'He also offers a unique perspective on the period: players can discover Japan alongside him.
'On one hand, he serves as a warning for the colonizing threat that the Portuguese present, and on the other, he adapted and thrived in Japan, and can be viewed as an example of the meritocratic structure established under Nobunaga.'
Meanwhile, Nanoe is a 17-year-old shinobi from Iga, who has witnessed her home province destructed by war.She channels her experience to help her people.
Ultimately, the game sees the protagonists come together in a bid to unify Japan.
The dual-player game includes Yasuke (pictured left) and a shinobi from Iga called Nanoe (pictured right)
Ubisoft said they chose to feature Yasuke (pictured) in the game because his character allows for creativity
Ubisoft Quebec is set to release the highly anticipated Assassin's Creed Shadows on 15 November
However, news of the upcoming released divided the gaming community, with some complaining it's sidelining Asian males. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one questioned: 'What does Ubisoft have against Japanese men?'
MailOnline has gone to Ubisoft for comment.
A second added: 'Why is Yasuke the first real historical figure to ever be used in an Assassin's Creed game? Never has a real character been used in the entire 17 year run of the franchise. Why is Nanoe a fictional character? They couldn't use a real female character too?
A third wrote: 'I notice a particularly glaring trend of erasing Asian male presence from western media as main characters.
'From the Netflix adaptation of 3 Body Problem which originally has them to this new Assassin's Creed game set in feudal Japan where almost everyone's Japanese. No thanks.'
Gamers took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their thoughts on the latestAssassin's Creed Shadows character
Another added: 'It's not about representing this or that, it's just the fact that it seems like forced diversity. There is a difference between the two.'
A sixth wrote: 'Assassin's Creed being based in Japan and then not using a Japanese male protagonist is stupid. We know exactly why they're using Yasuke and it's annoying. It would be as dumb as having it based in Africa and deciding to use a white male protagonist.'
Another questioned: '"I'm Asian, and Ubisoft decided to erase me and replace me in a game about my own country."
'Isn't that what they would say if they made Assassin's Creed Shadows a white dude? Why are they okay with it when they picked a black dude?
The latestAssassin's Creed sees Yasuke and Nanoe (pictured) come together in a bid to unify Japan
It comes afterActivision dropped the first teaser for this year's new Call of Duty game with a video of Mount Rushmore being spray-painted with the words 'THE TRUTH LIES'.
A mysterious new website, thetruthlies.com, appeared yesterday with an old-school box TV and the tagline 'Open your eyes. The truth lies'.
This first marketing push for the game - expected to be from its Black Ops series and called either Black Ops 6 or Black Ops Gulf War - comes weeks before it is expected to be officially unveiled at the Xbox Showcase event on June 9.
Thetruthlies.com also hosts a fictional news channel flicking through pictures of other vandalised monuments across the globe.
The first of six channels plays a clip of a group venturing into a 'federally closed area' under the cover of darkness before scaling Mount Rushmore, fastening sheets over the four engraved presidents' eyes and retreating to reveal those sheets bare the words 'THE TRUTH LIES' and a Cerberus logo.
More details are expected to be released in June at the Xbox Showcase event, for which the same Cerberus logo seen in the recent teasers has been used in promotion.
