Ubisoft’s long-running Assassin’s Creed game franchise is about a determined and heroic group of assassin heroes fighting the sinister Templars. This shadowy organization seeks to control humanity, with their present-day activity seeing them using a tech company to bend people’s minds to their sinister will. 3l3c5p

As such, it’s perhaps no surprise that the franchise just parkoured up a wall, slipped in through an open window, silently crawled across a beam, waited for the perfect moment, and sprang from the shadows to plunge a hidden blade deep into Elon Musk. Figuratively speaking.

The assassination took place on X, where Elon Musk and Mark Kern (aka Grummz) were engaged in a duel for the title of gaming’s most pathetic man. Musk has been exposed for paying people to play games for him and then claiming their achievements for his own, while Kern spends his life concocting elaborate woke conspiracy theories about video games. He is 57 years old.

Kern’s current target is the excellent new Assassin’s Creed Shadows, for which popular streamer Hasan posted a very tongue-in-cheek promotion. Grummz entered the fray by claiming this proves Ubisoft are ing “terrorist-platforming streamers”, with Musk chiming in to say “Hasan is a fraud”. Then, with a sudden flash of steel, the Assassin’s Creed social media poster struck!

Is that what the guy playing your Path of Exile 2 told you?

— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) March 25, 2025

Perhaps bravely, Kern attempted to fight back, only for Assassin’s Creed to coldly dispatch him by referencing his missing-in-action game Em-8er, which was announced in 2016 and still hasn’t been released:

Our game is out.

— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) March 25, 2025

Pausing only to dip an eagle’s feather in the mess, Assassin’s Creed vanished into the shadows, leaving a crushing ratio in their wake. The reaction seems to be a combination of disbelief, joy, and awe, combined with many people saying that the demolition of two of gaming’s most hated figures has made them purchase Shadows.

Ubisoft needs to give the Assassin's Creed social media guy a raise.
Double killing Elon Musk and Grummz on a brand is crazy pic.twitter.com/f3qrAJ2yXB

— Mischief (@MischiefsYT) March 25, 2025

Assassin's Creed Shadows sales after having ratioed to death Elon Musk on his own platform and Grummz. https://t.co/lGQzA55v57 pic.twitter.com/xsRyQ1rr0f

— Big Flower (@BigFlowerTime) March 25, 2025

I love this beef, because I actually understand it and I'm playing Assassin's Creed Shadows right now and I think it's dope. Musk and these man-boys are such losers. https://t.co/bXGntYaDpZ

— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) March 26, 2025

If they buy the game as a result of this takedown, they’ll have a great time. Shadows is the best the franchise has been in a decade, featuring some truly stunning visuals and killer ninja/samurai-based action.

After all this, you might be curious why Musk and Kern even had Shadows in their sights in the first place. The shocking answer? There’s a black samurai in it. Why would that make these two men angry? You do the math. What else is there left to say but “requiescat in pace.”

I’m not proud of the fact that I’ve beaten all 13 mainline Assassin’s Creed games (and all their DLCs). At their best, Ubisoft’s flagship series delivers tense stealth-action exploration while teaching you historical trivia. At their worst, they’re a hamster wheel of repetitive tasks, pointless busywork, and incomprehensible sci-fi nonsense.

As the credits rolled on the interminable Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, I vowed that this would be the last time I’d get suckered by the franchise. Last year, I was gifted a copy of the refreshingly concise Mirage, which made me recall the many things I’d once enjoyed about this series. Now, with Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it’s clear Ubisoft has given the series a serious style transfusion.

Since the early days of Assassin’s Creed, fans demanded a game set in feudal Japan. After all, with hooded, stealth-focused, assassin heroes, doesn’t a game where you just play as a straight-up actual ninja make logical sense? And yet, possibly because this setting was low-hanging fruit, Ubisoft waited… and waited.

Having now sunk a ridiculous number of hours into Shadows, I’m glad they waited. This is the best the franchise has been in at least a decade, leaving the stodgy Valhalla in the dust and improving on the great bits of Origins and Odyssey. At least on paper, not much has changed: you have a list of targets to stab, an open world to explore, and characters and bases to upgrade. But there’s a streamlined sleekness to this iteration, feeling like everything from character control to combat to the design of the world has been tuned up.

Let’s take lead character Naoe as an example. She moves much faster than previous assassins, can lie prone (a feature I’ve been craving for years), has a nifty grappling hook, and a fine line in flips and rolls. Controlling previous assassins occasionally felt like driving a station wagon: you point them in the right direction, hold down the parkour button, and hope for the best. But Naoe is more like a sports car, capable of quick, precise maneuvers and sudden exhilarating bursts of acceleration.

That’s counterbalanced by secondary lead Yasuke, whose design philosophy appears to be based around him being the biggest guy in all of Japan. He’s a true powerhouse in battle, can charge right through the scenery, but is frankly bordering on comedic when he tries to sneak. If Yasuke were the only lead in Shadows it wouldn’t feel like an Assassin’s Creed game, but his presence is like being able to swap between Naoe’s sports car and an armored Humvee.

The overall narrative is also vastly improved. The best Assassin’s Creed games have all been revenge stories, which may be repetitive but at least gave the characters clear motivations. In the (somewhat cutscene-heavy) introduction, when the game introduces you to Naoe’s peaceful village and her kind and ive middle-aged father, most people will be able to see precisely where the story is going.

Though the overall arc might be familiar, it’s at least well-executed. Care has clearly been taken to improve the cutscene direction, which is a huge improvement over Valhalla‘s parade of static dialogue and talking heads. The story also smartly zeroes in on Naoe and Yasuke’s social status at this period: Naoe bristling under an implacable patriarchy and Yasuke finding himself thrust into a high-status role after years as a slave.

Given the samurai-packed setting, it’s perhaps inevitable there’s a lot of Kurosawa influence on show, though there’s also a neat leaning towards more pop-inflected fare like 1971’s Lady Snowblood. This dovetails into a loose Tarantino feel when the action cranks up, with the best bits accompanied by a killer needle drop. Samurai movie purists will probably be demanding their shamisens and hyōshigi, but if watching ninjas battle samurai while a 60s-sounding psych rock track blares out is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

All that’s buoyed up by some truly incredible graphics. Ubisoft’s evolution of the Anvil engine is a sight to behold, particularly when running on 4K on a beefy PC or PS5 Pro. For once, ray-tracing doesn’t feel like a resource-hungry marketing gimmick, with the game so consistently pretty that I’m really putting the photo mode through its paces. Appropriately given the title, it also feels like there’s an aesthetic shift towards high-contrast visuals, where daytime feels sunkissed and night is an inky blackness that (unlike practically every other game) actually feels dark.

And the weather! Not since Metal Gear Solid 2 has rain felt so wet and oppressive. When a proper storm kicks up, the game excels, particularly if you’re playing with surround sound/headphones and can hear every drop splatter on the roof above your head and the wind whip through the trees.

As an aside, I’ve also been playing the game on my Steam Deck, knocking out a few side quests or exploring a waypoint during my daily commute. Frankly, Shadows has no business running this well on the Deck and, while it’s severely visually cut back and only ever lands in the rough territory of 30FPS, it’s very much playable.

Focused design, a firm directorial style, and those killer graphics combine into a polished package. This franchise has had a reputation for visual bugs and glitches at launch, but I suspect the last-minute delay from Nov. 2024 to Mar. 2025 gave the developers time to iron out any rough edges.

And, finally, it’s deeply satisfying to see this game succeed, as its victory is infuriating the worst people on the internet. From the moment the first trailer launched, there’s been a constant social media screeching from – let’s not mince words – racists annoyed that there’s a black samurai in the game.

That dovetailed into a full-on hate campaign spearheaded by the most pathetic people imaginable, all of whom have been slavering over the prospect of Shadows‘ failure and frantically trying to generate puffed-up ‘controversies’. All indications are that Shadows is not just a critical hit but a sales success too. That crunching noise you can faintly hear? That’s the sweet sound of racists grinding their teeth in frustration.

All of which means Shadows has me firmly back aboard the Assassin’s Creed franchise for the foreseeable future. All indications are that this will kick off a new trilogy of games based around the same incredible graphics tech, and I’ll be shoving a wristblade into unfortunate mooks’ necks in all of them.

There is no denying that Ubisoft has some serious problems when it comes to monetization. Its corporate greed is neigh unmatched in the gaming world, and it has proven time and time again that it cares about little more than scooping up as much cash as possible.

Combine that with what gamers view as lackluster copy-pasted open worlds, repetitive gameplay, and tedious side quests and it’s a recipe for irritated gamers, and wide-reaching boycotts.

Why are gamers upset with Ubisoft games? 6k346m

The frustration players feel when it comes to Ubisoft has been building for years. For older gamers, who might not subscribe to the often-vitriolic discourse online, the hate might come as a surprise. Ubisoft was a leader in the industry throughout the early aughts, releasing daring titles like Beyond Good & Evil, Rayman, Brothers in Arms, and of course, the entry titles to their flagship series like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry.

It’s hard to pinpoint when the anger first started. For some players it was the 2012 shift to Uplay, the company’s solo digital distribution platform. The launch and subsequent 8-year run was fraught with bugs, required an internet connection to play games, and was often down for days, leaving players without access to purchased games. Every major publisher is pushing for personal launchers, Ubisoft and EA are just taking the lead.

Coincidentally, they’re also the leaders in what one Redditor perfectly described as “fast food games… cheap, fast, you know what you’re getting and they are just good enough.” Baldur’s Gate swept the 2023 Game Awards with its ingenuity. With many players feeling the squeeze when it comes to shelling out for games that feel unfinished, recycled, and are laden with microtransactions, there is less space for “fast food.”

In another “pioneering” approach, the company is moving to subscription services, much like Xbox Game . The company believes that the days of physical copies are over — relics to be left molding in an attic somewhere.

“One of the things we saw is that gamers are used to, a little bit like DVD, having and owning their games… They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection. That’s a transformation that’s been a bit slower to happen [in games]… So it’s about feeling comfortable with not owning your game.”

Phillipe Tremblay

For others, it was when the Assassin’s Creed franchise moved to yearly releases, like Call of Duty, Madden, or FIFA – repetitive, half-a**ed, and aggressively-monetized mediocre titles.  The formula worked for about 5 years, with back-back successes in Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, Revelations, Assassin’s Creed III, and Black Flag before the magic was lost on the often overlooked AC Rogue.

Worse was the buggy launch of AC Unity. While the game received fairly high praise from critics, players were plagued by frequent Uplay crashes and more horrifying bugs than a game has any right to have at launch. Ubisoft’s response was to offer a free game as compensation – with the caveat that gamers couldn’t sue over the disproportionally buggy entry.

Outside of the tangible, a certain subsect of players have found themselves at odds with Ubisoft’s emphasis on DEI (Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion). Over the years the publisher has made concentrated efforts to include LGBTQIA+ characters, as well as represent people of color, diverse gender expression, and various nationalities. While a quick look back at many of their titles shows that this shift has happened over years, some players say this is happening at a disproportionate rate.

The latest entry in the franchise, AC Shadows, takes place during the Sengoku Period in Japan. The title features dual protagonists Naoe, a female shinobi, and Yasuke, an African man turned samurai. Commenters on the YouTube trailer were quick to rage about having a woman character and a man from a different country as the primary protagonists, claiming it pushes a “woke” agenda.

This same argument has been repeated since Syndicate (2015), when it was revealed that Jacob Frye was bisexual– though at the time it was more revolutionary than “woke,” and there was little fury over a female protagonist.

Since the Shadows trailer dropped in mid-May, it’s been dragged online as disrespectful to Japanese people, and for pushing a DEI agenda. For any casual viewer, the comments are toxic, filled to the brim with as-of-yet-unjustified hatred and abhorrent racism. Still, even some reasonable voices ed the chorus of dissent, questioning the breaking of precedent with Yasuke’s main character status, when the story is set in Japan.

At the time of writing, it had more than 700k downvotes and only 270k upvotes. On the AC subreddit, however, the comments skew much more positive – even if players have little positive to say about Ubisoft itself. “They have more misses than they do hits,” one player commented, concluding, “There’s too many options from better publishers.”

Beyond their alleged DEI pandering and aggressive monetization tactics, the company has massive problems internally. The Indeed reviews from employees detail low pay, high expectations, and awful management. Problems with management spiraled to the legal level in 2020 as part of the #MeToo movement; five of Ubisoft’s upper management were fired or forced to resign when the French newspaper Liberation uncovered that years’ worth of sexual misconduct complaints had been ignored. The former chief creative officer, Serge Hascoët, and four others were arrested on sexual harassment charges in 2023.

According to Bloomberg, Hascoët was the primary reason Ubisoft was unable to produce content with only female leads. In Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Aya was originally intended to carry much more of the game — likewise, Kassandra was meant to singularly carry Odyssey. According to Bloomberg, Hascoët believed that women wouldn’t sell games. Other publications, like Gamesutra, corroborated Bloomberg’s report, and found that issues stemming from executive mismanagement had affected multiple studios.

The result was a cascade of executive departures, a revamping of Ubisoft’s internal procedures, and several class action lawsuits against the company. Throughout 2021, multiple groups of Ubisoft employees came forward to try and force to company to comply with its promises, and to shed light on more discrimination and sexual harassment issues. Axios reported in December 2021 that an “exodus” of employees had left the company due to low pay and the impact of the allegations.

Despite Ubisoft’s jump on the subscription bandwagon, aggressive microtransactions, and soaring price tags – the latest Assassin’s Creed title, AC Shadows starts at $69.99 for the base game and caps at $129.99, and those aren’t even collector’s editions – the company can’t seem to keep the good talent in, and the bad actors out. The “fast food” model isn’t very fresh, and players are ready for new horizons – which don’t seem to be coming from the AAAs anymore. Most players are content dropping $40 on amazing indie title like Manor Lords rather than snagging an Ubisoft subscription and, just like the company’s Director of Subscriptions Phillipe Tremblay says, and get “comfortable with not owning [their] game.”

It seems like every other week there is a new “controversy” in the gaming world. The loudest opinions always surface first, and people can’t help but ride that hate train.

Fresh off a debate on whether or not Stellar Blade’s censored outfit was a woke move, or if Hades II’s goddess of love Aphrodite is too masculine to be sexy (guys, she is mostly naked, c’mon) gamers have set their sights on Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

The newest entry in the colossal franchise is set to release in November 2024, and though we have nothing beyond the first trailer, gamers are furious – and suddenly experts on Japan’s Sengoku period.

Why are gamers mad about Assassin’s Creed Shadows? 452q36

Developer Ubisoft has found itself at the top of players sh*t-list over the last few years for a litany of issues, including price gouging, copy-pasting settings, locking content behind pre-order walls, repetitive gameplay, and, of course, historical inaccuracies.

Back in 2007, Ubisoft moved to rectify some of those immersion breaking errors in chronology, like removing Altier’s crossbow. Even so, the game focused on the assassination of real historical figures, who were obviously not off-ed by a shadow organization of assassins in the real world. More recent entries have seen the studio move away from even the illusion of accuracy in the name a narrative – even if their ancient setting have been used for educational purposes (we’re looking at you, AC: Origins).

Alas, those gamers who missed the shift to a new direction when the god Anubis reared his jackal head in Origins, or when Eivor started riding the giant wolf Hati in Valhalla, are making a stink over the perceived inaccuracies shown in the reveal trailer dropped in mid-May.

The complaints range from decrying the “forced inclusivity” of one of the dual protagonists, the real historical figure Yasuke, an African samurai, to the female co-protagonist, the Shinobi Naoe, not being Japanese enough.

For the record, the character comes from the Iga Province, the home of the Shinobi, and her father is none other than Fujibayashi Nagato the ninja who saved the Shinobi way of life during the 16th century.

But the dual protagonist nature of the game seems to be lost on gamers, who are almost solely focused on the Yasuke of it all, even through the historical figure has 2 anime adaptations, Afro Samurai and Yasuke based on him.

The comments section of the YouTube video is filled with gamers hashing it out.

One conversation drifting around harkens back to 2009, with the release of Resident Evil 5. The white protagonist, Chris Redfield, is sent to Africa, where he is forced to fight his way through waves of infected locals. At the time, it was controversial for the perceived insensitivity of a white man engaging in essentially mass murder against Africans. s on Twitter, now X.com, feel that Yasuke cutting his way through Japanese people is much the same.

Streamer Asmongold weighed in as well, and while his “hot takes” about Yasuke were no different than the plethora of others on social media, he did take a second to call out Naoe as, “some girl,” and say that her inclusion ruined the immersion for him because, “there’s not a real situation where a woman is going to be able to beat 3 guys as an assassin.”

Where were those same complaints with Kassandra, Eivor, Evie, or Aveline?

Ubisoft also confirmed that, much like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, players will have their pick of romantic partners, but trolls seem to have yet again forgotten AC precedent. There have been queer characters since Leonardo Da Vinci popped up in AC II Brotherhood and crushed on the dreamy Ezio Auditori.

But the icing on the ridiculous cake is the actual editing war taking place on the Wikipedia pages for AC Shadows and Yasuke. Since the trailer dropped on the 15th, Yasuke’s page has been altered 100’s of times, with posters adding and subtracting information to suit their chosen narrative. Its a ridiculous back and forth, and one that will end as soon as the trailer fades from the cultural zeitgeist.

For some, who are more able to articulate their frustrations than others, the core issue seems to be Ubisoft’s political messaging. Fans feel that their preferred historical setting has been overridden by Ubisoft’s “radical progressivism.” When it comes to making games, which is a form of art, its only natural for those involved with development to let their opinions seep into the fabric of the story. At the end of the day, all a consumer can do is avoid engagement – even flaming a trailer.

As an American, I can’t speak to the Japanese reaction to the drama, but there are plenty of Japanese comments on the YouTube channel voicing concern over erasure of their history. There is, of course, a Japanese protagonist as well, but that doesn’t diminish the feeling of being left behind. We can only hope that when the game releases in mid November, it’s good enough for gamers to leave their worries behind as they assassinate some Jesuit-Templar baddies.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows could not come out at a better time, as the recent wild success of Shōgun has proven fans are ready to dive into feudal Japan.

This will be the setting for the newest game in Ubisoft’s highly successful gaming series. For decades, Assassin’s Creed has brought players to all corners of the world at different historical points. Japan has long been a coveted time to set the series, and now gamers have the opportunity. But Shadows is special, not just because of the locale, but the innovations made for the game.

The new venture will feature not just one protagonist but two. These dueling perspectives allow fans to play the classic assassin role in the shinobi character and a samurai. Both characters team up in a tale of fiction inspired by historical events. The samurai character is none other than Yasuke, known throughout history as the first Black samurai. Brooke Davies, the narrative director for the game, informed IGN of the joy of implementing the historical figure into the game. 

“Yasuke is somebody who is going to tie together many of the most powerful figures in our era. He really is a great point of entry to this as well, with Oda Nobunaga on one side, and on the other side the Portuguese that he arrives with. He really does a lovely job of connecting the dots historically, what we know factually. And then narratively, we had so much fun imagining the kind of person who would have this trajectory.”

Yasuke aids the shinobi assassin, Naoe, the invented daughter of the real-life figure, Fujibayashi Nagato. This melding of history and fiction primes the new Assassin’s Creed game to be one for the ages.

Release date for Assassin’s Creed: Shadows e2q17

The trailer kicks off with our titular assassin and their terrified victim — a taste of what is to come. After a quick romp in the woods at night, the visuals show a landscape in the daylight — the natural beauty of historic Japan. This beauty is short-lived when a band of samurai attack Naoe and her father. As her home burns, Naoe gets the first glimpse of Yasuke, whose fate will become entwined with hers. 

Players can switch between these two perspectives depending on which skill set is required. Yasuke is a powerful fighter, which will come in handy when force is needed. Conversely, Naoe will be your pick when stealth is required.

Producer Karl Onnée explained to IGN how they’re focusing on player choices which will affect the gameplay, which will include a focus on the changing seasons of the year:

“We’ve really been pushing about making sure that gameplay and art are not separate, but they’re intertwining.”

Onnée gave the example of how, in winter, waterways would be frozen, as opposed to in the springtime.

Assassins Creed Shadows is slated to drop on Nov. 15 2205 on PC, PS5, and Xbox, so many elements are under wraps. 

Ever since the Assassin’s Creed franchise debuted in 2007 fans have been demanding a game set in feudal Japan. On the surface it’s a no-brainer: the assassins are effectively ninjas already and there’s a wealth of fascinating historical events to work into the plot. Now, with the newly unveiled Assassin’s Creed Shadows this dream has come true.

The game will feature two protagonists, a female ninja (and soon-to-be Assassin) Naoe and Yasuke, a real-life historical figure famed for being a Black samurai in feudal Japan. In the trailer Yasuke is depicted as a force to be reckoned with, eschewing sneaking around for busting heads and smashing down walls in a dramatic suit of samurai armor.

Depressingly but inevitably, the sight of a prominent Black hero in feudal Japan has drawn all the unpleasant people you might expect from the woodwork to moan about the game being “woke”. One of the core arguments is that Shadows is being historically inaccurate by showing Yasuke as a samurai. So, was he?

The real-life Yasuke e1c4

Yasuke was objectively a real person and is mentioned in multiple primary sources dating from the Sengoku period of Japanese history. Much of his life remains a mystery, but it appears he arrived in Japan in 1579 in the service of Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano and his skin color and stature immediately drew attention.

Yasuke is the first person of African origin to appear in Japan’s historical record and was almost certainly the first Black person most Japanese people of the time had ever seen. In 1581 Valignano met Oda Nobunaga, then the most powerful individual in Japan. Nobunaga had already heard about Yasuke and summoned him.

s state that Nobunaga initially refused to believe his skin color was natural and believed it might be the result of ink. When it became clear that wasn’t the case Nobunaga took a shine to him, giving him the Japanese name Yasuke, employing him as his retainer, and bequeathing him a sword and a house.

Yasuke spent the next year traveling with Nobunaga, with his distinctive appearance drawing attention wherever they went. On 21 June 1582, Nobunaga was betrayed and attacked and, realizing his defeat was inevitable, committed seppuku. Yasuke fought on and was injured but not killed. Five months later he appears to have recovered but then promptly vanishes from the historic record. His ultimate fate is unknown.

Was Yasuke actually a samurai? 3e3d1q

Without the discovery of further primary s of Yasuke’s time in Japan it’s impossible to know for certain whether he was considered as a samurai by his contemporaries but most historians lean towards him being one.

Evidence in favor is we know for certain that Yasuke was under Nobunaga fuchi, meaning he was a warrior being paid a rice stipend (or similar), which would align him with other confirmed samurai of that time. We also know that Nobunaga gifted Yasuke a wakizashi short sword soon after they met. Contemporary s describe Yasuke fighting with a sword and surrendering it – this may have been the wakizashi or a longer sword Nobunaga gave him later.

It’s also important to note that in this time a “samurai” isn’t an official title like a knight, but rather a description of your function or role. As such, being a sword-wielding bodyguard under the direct employ of Nobunaga would make Yasuke fit the role of a samurai at the time and indicates a status on par with other known samurai. Plus, anyone who saw Shōgun will know that it wasn’t unheard of for foreigners to become samurai.

Arguments against Yasuke being a samurai are a little more flimsy. There’s no evidence of Yasuke being granted land or wearing two swords (though the two-sword rule for samurai only came into force in 1629). Yasuke also certainly wasn’t Japanese nobility, though the Sengoku period saw more flexibility in who could become samurai, with some from peasant backgrounds rising to the position.

In summary, everything we know about Yasuke’s time in Japan indicates that – at minimum – he fulfilled all the criteria in this specific time period to be considered a samurai. We can’t know if those around him saw him as one, but what we know about his life means it’s not historically inaccurate for Assassin’s Creed Shadows to depict him as a samurai.