Assassin’s Creed Shadows' Japanese setting was so difficult, director explains

‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’s Japanese setting was “very, very tricky” because Ubisoft developers “[wanted] to be respectful” and “avoid telling a culture about their own culture”.

The upcoming action-adventure title takes place in feudal Japan and follows protagonists Yasuke and Naoe - a black samurai and a female shinobi - and ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois has now insisted the studio “had to be very careful to handle [Japanese culture] with care”.

In an interview with GamesRadar+, the developer said: “Japan has been, I would say, very, very tricky, and we want to be respectful about everything Japan. [...] We want to avoid telling a culture about their own culture.

“That's one of the reasons as well why we have Yasuke as an outsider in the game. His perspective allows us to be a little more, I would say, free in terms of what Yasuke can do or say, as he's not from Japan and he doesn't know exactly everything. We were careful and attentive to feedback, and still, it's been a pretty constructive journey learning about Japan on the way.”

Lemay-Comtois added Ubisoft also “had to double check with Japanese experts on astounding amounts of details” to ensure ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ was both historically accurate and not culturally insensitive.