Ubisoft CEO Defends Assassin's Creed Shadows Amid "Woke" Complaints

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When Assassin’s Creed Shadows was announced, it quickly became a target for “anti-woke” critics online. Many racist comments and memes about one character, Yasuke, flooded social media, overshadowing much of the pre-launch discussion.

Despite this, Assassin’s Creed Shadows launched successfully, attracting millions of players. However, the game’s controversies resurfaced during a Ubisoft shareholders meeting.

Ubisoft Shareholder Claims The Company Is Promoting A “Leftist Political Agenda”

You can watch a video of the meeting on the Ubisoft website. After a presentation, a new investor asked an unusual question about the game.

The shareholder stated, “There’s been a lot of talk about Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ubisoft has faced criticism for this ‘woke’ trend. Since it takes place in 16th-century Japan and features an African samurai, that’s quite a bold move by Ubisoft. In the game, he can even fall in love with a transgender character. So, is this a sign of openness or is it just pushing a leftist agenda?”

This led to some laughter from attendees, making it amusing to hear an investor accuse Ubisoft of bending to leftist views, as if any big company would truly do that. It seems words are losing their meaning.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot responded, avoiding the controversial words the shareholder used. He explained, “When you play the game, you see that it’s filled with characters that fit well into the story. Our goal was to showcase characters with heroic journeys.”

He added, “This character really existed, and telling his story has been very successful. That’s why we chose to tell it differently.”

Clearly, Ubisoft has no regrets. Despite the criticism, Assassin’s Creed Shadows did well with both fans and critics. It launched right after the disappointing release of Star Wars Outlaws, which was also discussed at the shareholders meeting.