Ubisoft’s announcement that Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed has, understandably, been met with a barrage of criticism and speculation. From delaying the game’s release to a month with less competition, to further polishing the game, and this giving the company time to review its options in the wake of a disastrous 2024, there have been many valid opinions on the matter. However, anti-woke content creators and influencers have found another reason to dogpile on Ubisoft, the release date for Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
It appears that AC Shadows’ release date, March 20th, is also a day when the Tokyo subway sarin attack occurred. This was a domestic terrorist attack carried out on March 20th back in 1995 by members of a cult called Aum Shinrikyo. The cult carried out its attack on three lines of the Tokyo Metro that led to the deaths of 13 people, 50 severely injured, and almost 1,000 others suffering from temporary vision problems.
Suffice to say that it was a horrific act of domestic terrorism in Japan.
However, content creators such as former video game executive Mark “@Grummz” Kern, @Vara_Dark, @Pirat_Nation, and others were quick to take jabs at Ubisoft on the X platform.
Content creator @Vara_Dark posted a reply to a picture she shared detailing the events of March 20th stating,
“oh… wow. thats uh.. yeah”
And responded to another X user bringing it to her attention further elaborating,
“The problem is that Ubisoft has already insulted Japanese gamers and culture multiple times. If this just happened to be the date without all of these other situations, it wouldn’t be a thing. That’s why people haven’t criticized Xenoblade Chronicles. Ubisoft’s making a record number of “mistakes” with this game. Just seems odd.”
@Grummz, reacting to Vara’s post, simply said,
“Ubisoft – we’ve carefully researched Japan and have much respect for its history…
Chooses one of Japans darkest days to release Assassin’s Creed shadows…”
@Pirat_Nation posted their own reaction stating,
“Ubisoft publishes Assassins Creed Shadows on the same date as the terrorist attack in Tokyo
They should delay it again or cancel it”
While it is true that this horrific attack occurred on March 20th, and could be seen as an insult to Japan from a company whose game is already an insult to Japan for its racism and cultural appropriation, it is highly doubtful that the March 20 release date was done with any malicious intent. Or even knowledge of an event that occurred thirty years ago. After all, March 20th is also a public holiday in Japan that celebrates the beginning of spring and known as the Vernal Equinox Day.
Of all the things to criticize Ubisoft, a Canadian company, for this is not it. Otherwise, these same content creators should be damning Monolith Studios, a Japanese developer, which is releasing Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition for the Nintendo DS on the same day as Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Or the list of other games which were released on that day.
But none of the aforementioned people have done that.
I get it, everyone is chasing the algorithm for those sweet metrics. Sadly, the anti-woke content creators are acting the same way as mainstream media and games journalists. While one can respect them for their fight against DEI and the woke agenda, they are not above criticism when they are out-of-line in manufacturing outrage over nothing.
It is getting to the point where the anti-woke crowd are so hellbent on being the first to react to something that even appears to be “woke,” that it blinds them to other things. Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ March 20 release date is a perfect example of this.
Ubisoft deserves a lot of hate, criticism, and mockery because it is well-deserved. As someone who has been boycotting the company going on 15 years, I know this better than anyone and I certainly understand the Japan’s reaction to Ubisoft and Shadows. But let’s focus on criticizing and mocking them for the real issues and not create something out of thin air just because it will generate clicks and engagement. That’s how video game journalists act.
Let’s try to be better, huh?
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