Tuesday, March 18th 2025
Ubisoft Explores the History of Feudal Japan in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows, launching on March 20, will continue the series' tradition of bringing players closer to history with a section of its database titled "Cultural Discovery." As part of the in-game Codex, this feature offers players carefully selected encyclopedic entries on the history, art, and culture of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. This cultural encyclopedia was written by historians and includes images from museums and institutions. Similar to the History of Baghdad feature in Assassin's Creed Mirage, Cultural Discovery will be integrated into the main game of Assassin's Creed Shadows, and is tied to player progression. Cultural Discovery contains almost two times as many entries as the History of Baghdad, with more than 125 entries at launch, and more to come.
As players visit sites that provide a historical and cultural exploration of 16th-century Japan, they will unlock articles on the economy, castles, military affairs, daily life, historical figures, and events. One notable cultural codex entry, shown above, features an exclusive replica of a Kabuto, or Japanese war helmet, that symbolizes the first contact between Japan and Spain. The original Kabuto is part of one of the oldest collections of Japanese armor in Europe, and is kept at the Royal Armory in Madrid. This Kabuto had been almost entirely damaged during the fire suffered by the Royal Armory on July 10, 1884. Ubisoft, Patrimonio Nacional, and Spanish company Factum Arte joined forces to recover what was left of this Feudal Japan relic, create a faithful physical reconstruction of it, and make it accessible to people around the world through its inclusion in Assassin's Creed Shadows. The physical replica from Factum Arte will become part of the Royal Armory of Madrid's collection.
Above: The Importance of Tea, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, USA).
"Working with Ubisoft has allowed us to recover the original appearance of a unique relic and preserve it in the digital world. The partnership will also allow us to bring the Kabuto close to people all over the world and capture the attention of younger audiences, using Assassin's Creed Shadows as a platform to put it in context and to make its history known," said Álvaro Soler del Campo, Head of the Department of the Royal Armory of the Royal Palace of Madrid, belonging to Patrimonio Nacional.
Above: Kabuto, courtesy of Royal Armory Museum of Madrid (Madrid, Spain)
The entry above features art of Osaka Castle created by artist Gentaro Kagawa who provided significant contributions to Cultural Discovery. before his recent passing in December 2024. Kagawa graduated from the Graduate School of Japanese Painting at Musashino Art University and became a historical research illustrator. He received the Japan Castle Culture Special Award in April 2023.
Above: Osaka Castle, courtesy of Gentaro Kagawa. Historical Supervision—Hitoshi-Nakai. Produced by Rekishi-gunzo Magazine.
Ubisoft also worked with several historians on writing entries for the cultural codex, including Professor Pierre-Francois Souyri. "Writing the codex was quite challenging because I had to explain things clearly and concisely while adhering to the format. This meant making choices—elaborating on one point while leaving out another. Overall, it was an enjoyable task, and I must admit that I learned a great deal myself. In fact, this project inspired the idea for my new book on ninjas."
Above: Japanese Women in Society, courtesy of Tokyo National Museum (Tokyo, Japan)
Assassin's Creed Shadows is available for pre-order now and launches on March 20 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Amazon Luna, Macs with Apple Silicon via the Mac App Store, and Windows PC via the Ubisoft Store, Steam, and Epic Games Store. Pre-order the game today to receive the Claws of Awaji expansion and Thrown to the Dogs bonus quest at no additional cost.
Source:
Ubisoft News
As players visit sites that provide a historical and cultural exploration of 16th-century Japan, they will unlock articles on the economy, castles, military affairs, daily life, historical figures, and events. One notable cultural codex entry, shown above, features an exclusive replica of a Kabuto, or Japanese war helmet, that symbolizes the first contact between Japan and Spain. The original Kabuto is part of one of the oldest collections of Japanese armor in Europe, and is kept at the Royal Armory in Madrid. This Kabuto had been almost entirely damaged during the fire suffered by the Royal Armory on July 10, 1884. Ubisoft, Patrimonio Nacional, and Spanish company Factum Arte joined forces to recover what was left of this Feudal Japan relic, create a faithful physical reconstruction of it, and make it accessible to people around the world through its inclusion in Assassin's Creed Shadows. The physical replica from Factum Arte will become part of the Royal Armory of Madrid's collection.
"Working with Ubisoft has allowed us to recover the original appearance of a unique relic and preserve it in the digital world. The partnership will also allow us to bring the Kabuto close to people all over the world and capture the attention of younger audiences, using Assassin's Creed Shadows as a platform to put it in context and to make its history known," said Álvaro Soler del Campo, Head of the Department of the Royal Armory of the Royal Palace of Madrid, belonging to Patrimonio Nacional.
The entry above features art of Osaka Castle created by artist Gentaro Kagawa who provided significant contributions to Cultural Discovery. before his recent passing in December 2024. Kagawa graduated from the Graduate School of Japanese Painting at Musashino Art University and became a historical research illustrator. He received the Japan Castle Culture Special Award in April 2023.
Ubisoft also worked with several historians on writing entries for the cultural codex, including Professor Pierre-Francois Souyri. "Writing the codex was quite challenging because I had to explain things clearly and concisely while adhering to the format. This meant making choices—elaborating on one point while leaving out another. Overall, it was an enjoyable task, and I must admit that I learned a great deal myself. In fact, this project inspired the idea for my new book on ninjas."
Assassin's Creed Shadows is available for pre-order now and launches on March 20 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Amazon Luna, Macs with Apple Silicon via the Mac App Store, and Windows PC via the Ubisoft Store, Steam, and Epic Games Store. Pre-order the game today to receive the Claws of Awaji expansion and Thrown to the Dogs bonus quest at no additional cost.
21 Comments on Ubisoft Explores the History of Feudal Japan in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Precisely the most criticized aspect is the lack of historical accuracy.
It's a good thing I'm not the target audience.
You're not going to find historical accuracy in these kinds of games.
It's always been a complete makeover in a completely broken pseudo-universe.
Basically, some people are pissed because they made the 'wrong' person the samurai in this fictional game.
I can't recall Eizo getting this hate when Ubi made him a fictional 'historically wrong' assassin.
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Edit: just for some well-required context, Here's the plot summary for AC Blackflag (2013?):That bit in bold... Ubi invented an entirely fictitious persona, and made them the star. What's worse, they promoted their own agenda of making a Welshman the lead. How fucking dare they usurp history by making a Welshman a fabled assassin pirate. I'm disgusted. Shocked again. Filth.
FTR, my mum's Welsh/Italian, so I can say that.
He went out of his way trying to say good things about it and even recomended you watch other reviews. :laugh:
Meanwhile introduces Kangz and hiphop. I somehow doubt they came straight outta
ComptonKamakura in the feudal era.They clearly have NEVER played an AC game before.... if they did, they'd know that the human race in the AC universe was made by giant super beings that ruled the earth some 80k odd years before the human race did. How is that supposed to be historically accurate?
Dumbest shit I've read multiple times today.
They had one job; make a good Assassin's Creed game involving ninjas as the assassins, and they couldn't even do that. Even their past games at least attempted to maintain period consistency with lots of work with actual scholars and historians, to the point they were proud to claim their games were historically accurate to the time period portrayed, even if the characters and plots were fictional. Heck, I'm sure many read all the testimonials of Odyssey and Mirage got for being more sincere with the setting. Then they decide that using fake "Japanese consultants" was good enough and cross too many period elements and still have the balls to claim "historically accurate" and "historically accurate guides" regarding Japan.
Following in the footsteps of prophets like Moses and Abraham born in Egypt Iraq, or Syria.
They themselves preached a god from the depths of the desert.
Do you have a problem with Jesus and Mary? Now that's your problem if you think these characters are white.
This is precisely a story that can be likened to the wokeness that lies at the origin of Western civilization.
Good luck to everyone for dealing with this.
They claimed and boasted so much about it then went in an opposite direction while still claiming it still to be accurate. How do they not deserve to be clowned on for it?
Say it's shit, move on, and go enjoy your life. Unless your whole identity is just rotting on gaming forums, then I guess go for it.
When I do not like a game or a game dev did something stupid I just stop interacting with the game/community and move on. Forgotten. - I should definitely take my own advice on that one.
My nose isn't bent out of shape about it. But like many others. Im a firm supporter of not being lied to.
If you're going to lie to people. Shouldn't people be allowed to complain, push back or clown on them? Why are you defending Ubisofts actions like you have some skin in the game? If Ubisoft puts their trash out for the world to see. Aren't people allowed to voice their feedback regarding it?