Assassin's Creed subreddit starts banning anyone who complains about historical accuracy

Reddit has been hitting the ban hammer on those that continue to spark the heated debate of historical accuracy when it relates to Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Following months of speculation, Ubisoft finally revealed the first trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows giving us the best look at the Feudal Japan setting, a theme that fans of the series have been calling for.

Check out the Assassin’s Creed Shadows trailer below!

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you will play as two entwining characters, a female named Naoe, a deadly and skilled ninja, and Yasuke, a man to be believed by some as the first black samurai, the latter of which is the subject that has sparked heated debates online.

Naoe is a fictional character created solely for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. However, whether Yasuke was really a samurai who had served under Oda Nobunaga until he was assassinated in 1582, a simple bodyguard, servant or someone of no real relevance, he is a real historical figure, no matter who he’s perceived to be.

The story of any good Assassin’s Creed game has always been themed on a historical moment and has featured real historical characters, who have until now been NPCs. Yet, Yasuke is the first main playable protagonist in the series that was a real person.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows also stirred controversy when it was revealed that there would be same-sex romantic options for both Naoe and Yasuke, as well as claims of stolen content, and having those elements thrown into Ubisoft’s makeshift version of history, many corners of the internet are not happy. This led to an apology by Ubisoft to the Japanese audience.

It seems the topic of historical accuracy in Assassin’s Creed Shadows isn't going away any time soon and it may likely pick up more traction when the game is actually released. As such, and seemingly tired of the same conversations, GamesRadar has reported that Reddit moderators have now begun to ban those who complain about historical accuracy in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

“There is no "debate" - Yasuke was a Samurai. If you disagree, you can do that somewhere else,” reads the headline of a moderator of a Reddit post.

“As we are all exhausted of this tedious discussion that has been endlessly talked to death, not to mention exacerbated by a recent official statement from Ubisoft, we would like to give a final reminder to those participating in these debates as to what exactly this franchise entails, and why there was never any point to these discussions, to begin with outside of thinly veiling bad faith intent.”

The lengthy post continues: “Assassin's Creed is historical fiction. This means that while certain locations, events and figures may be based on reality, and can even have a slight focus on accuracy, their depictions are largely exaggerated for the sake of a more enjoyable video game.”

As a big fan of the series, I’ve never taken the locations, themes and settings of Assassin’s Creed seriously but I can’t speak on behalf of everyone else, especially those that take issue with Ubisoft’s version of history in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on 15 November 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.