The new Assassin’s Creed episode has caused a lot of criticism on Reddit, and the moderators have had enough.

Yasuke or not, there was an African man who served Nobunaga Oda in 16th century Japan, and the debate is whether he was a samurai or not. Thomas Lockley, for example, wrote that he was one of Nobunaga’s samurai, and the term just means that he served one of the warlords. And the game is criticized because it is unacceptable to have a dark-skinned character as the protagonist of a medieval Japanese story. They also play the card of historical inaccuracy and forced diversity.

In response, the moderators of the Assassin’s Creed subreddit took to their keyboards and openly said they were fed up: “With the revelation of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, there has been an influx of certain individuals spilling into various online communities such as this subreddit and raising arguments about ‘historical accuracy’. As we are all tired 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 those participating in these debates a final reminder of what exactly this franchise is about, and why there was never any point to these discussions in the first place outside of a thinly veiled malicious intent.

Assassin’s Creed is historical fiction. This means that while certain locations, events, and characters may be based on reality and may even have a slight emphasis on accuracy, their depictions are largely exaggerated for the sake of a more entertaining video game. While all of our player protagonists to date have been fictional, the introduction of Yasuke has given some people the false impression that the above rule does not apply. It still does. Yasuke, who is a samurai as confirmed by several reputable historians from around the world, including Japan, may not have played as large a role in the real world as he does in Shadows. This is fine. It is a video game. You are not meant to use Assassin’s Creed as a sourcebook of actual historical knowledge – it is meant to force you to do your own outside research after you are immersed in a glimpse of authenticity.

We are not here in this community to debate the historical record. Most of us, as fans, understand that while these games give us a great glimpse of what historical settings might have felt like, and we have fun comparing them to the actual record, we do not chase accuracy within this franchise, and we play for other reasons first and foremost. So if you are here specifically to leave comments about your displeasure with the inclusion of Yasuke or various other inaccurate details that have been pointed out in Ubisoft’s portrayal of Feudal Japan, it is time to understand that this is not and will never be the place for that discussion. Please feel free to take your displeasure elsewhere, away from this franchise and its communities. Any further comments that attempt to dispute Yasuke’s social status, disparage his inclusion in the game, or contain statements that border on concern trolling for historical accuracy will be swiftly removed and met with a ban,” the moderators said.

No wonder they were so fed up with the debate.

Source: PCGamer, Smithsonian

There is no "debate" – Yasuke was a Samurai. If you disagree, you can do that somewhere else.
byu/AutoModerator inassassinscreed