A day-one patch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows will address criticisms of how the open-world RPG allows players to go on a violent rampage through religious shrines in 1500s Japan. Parts of specific buildings will no longer be destructible, and the monks inside will no longer bleed when hit, following recent comments on the topic by Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The controversy stems from a clip that went viral back in January, showing one of the game’s two protagonists, the samurai Yosuke, attacking people and breaking furniture at the Itatehyōzu Shrine outside the historic Himeji Castle inHyōgo Prefecture. The gameplay is voluntary and not part of any quest, but was leveraged by some online as evidence that Assassin’s Creed Shadows was being disrespectful toward Japanese culture following previous complaints about other culturally insensitivedetails in the game.
Ubisoft, whose corporate fortunes over the next year will be heavily determined by the relative success of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, isn’t taking any chances, and has tried to address the concerns of Japanese officials in a day-one patch that will prevent players from recreating the footage that went viral back in January. The patch notes, shared with IGN ahead of the March 20 release, include the following:
Citizens without weapons no longer bleed when attacked, reducing unintended blood spill in temples/shrines
Tables and racks in temples/shrines are now indestructible (Some objects like drums or bowls can still be broken as they are generic ones present everywhere in the world) (Tables are still dynamic objects, so players can still move/push them).
The shrine destruction controversy, explained
Though it may have started as an online debate, the controversy surrounding the ability to deface sacred historical sites in Japan reached the upper echelons of Japanese government earlier this week. Prime Minister Ishiba was asked about the topic during a budget meeting by House of Councillors member Hiroyuki Kada, who represents the region where the Itatehyōzu Shrine is located, according to a report by IGN.
“I fear that allowing players to attack and destroy real-world locations in the game without permission could encourage similar behavior in real life,” Kada told Ishiba. “Shrine officials and local residents are also worried about this. Of course, freedom of expression must be respected, but acts that demean local cultures should be avoided.”
The Prime Minister responded, “Defacing a shrine is out of the question—it is an insult to the nation itself. When the Self-Defense Forces were deployed to Samawah, Iraq, we ensured they studied Islamic customs beforehand. Respecting the culture and religion of a country is fundamental, and we must make it clear that we will not simply accept acts that disregard them.”
The concern seems to be primarily about the potential for the features in the game to encourage copycat attacks in real life, as politicians the world over have frequently worried about with regard to other games—primarily Grand Theft Auto—that mix hyper-realistic simulations with the freedom to commit violent acts. Another issue expressed in the meeting was the lack of express permission from the Shrine to have its name and likeness included in the first place.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows, originally scheduled to come out last fall, has already been delayed twice. Developers at Ubisoft have worked on adding extra layers of polish and fine-tuning to avoid any potential snags at launch that might derail the blockbuster’s early momentum. Following disappointing sales for Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and mounting financial pressures from other delays and cancellations, reports have swirled about a potential sale or break-up of the French publisher. Assassin’s Creed Shadows currently has an 81 on Metacritic, in line with previous games in the franchise, while our own review lauded it as “one of the most dynamic, fun, and best-looking open-world games of the current console generation.”
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