A brand new Assassin’s Creed game sparks controversy within the fan base due to its portrayal of Yasuke, a historical African samurai.
Last week, the publisher Ubisoft released a highly anticipated trailer for their upcoming game, which is set to be launched in November. The trailer, eagerly awaited by fans, quickly became a heated debate and controversy topic. Many fans used social media platforms to voice their frustrations, particularly criticizing the game’s historical inaccuracies. These inaccuracies sparked a wave of disappointment and anger among history enthusiasts and dedicated franchise fans.
According to thatparkplace.com, the official trailer on Ubisoft’s YouTube channel garnered significant attention, amassing 7.1 million views in a short period. However, the reception was mixed, as evidenced by the 265,000 likes contrasted with the overwhelming 595,000 dislikes it received early on. This disparity in feedback highlighted the community’s divided opinions and underscored the challenges Ubisoft faces in meeting fan expectations and maintaining historical fidelity in their games.
However, it has become pretty clear that Assassin’s Creed video games often prioritize storytelling through a lens of extensive research and historical context. Fans may not always realize the depth of effort that goes into balancing accurate historical representation with engaging narratives, which makes the backlash more challenging for the developers. It seems like fans jumped the shark, quickly criticizing the trailer without thoroughly researching the historical elements themselves. This knee-jerk reaction underscores a disconnect between the developers’ intentions and the audience’s expectations, highlighting the difficulties in pleasing a diverse and passionate fanbase.
The new game Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes fans back to 16th century Japan, exploring the life of Japanese character, the daughter of famed ninja master Fujibayashi Nagato, and her partner, an African samurai Yasuke.
The internet is clearly divided over the game, creating a minefield of conflicting opinions about its story. Some are excited to play, while others are not. Reddit user curry power 84 voiced his view that the backlash was filled with nonsense and, as an Asian American male, he had no issue with Yasuke as the protagonist. However, he acknowledged that some Asian American males feel a lack of representation in Western media, making this a missed opportunity for representation in a major video game franchise.
There was also a video from The Comments Section with Brett Cooper, where Ms. Cooper recapped everything she knew about the story and discussed what people were saying about the video game online. In her video, she provided a thorough summary of the situation, highlighting the key points of the controversy and the mixed reactions from fans. She explored the various opinions and sentiments circulating on the internet, offering insight into the broader discussion.