The Japanese Prime Minister has called some parts of Assassin’s Creed Shadows insulting to the country of Japan. AC Shadows has been heavily criticized since it was first revealed. While it’s possibly Ubisoft’s last chance at redemption, gamers have been questioning its authenticity to feudal Japan culture and history.

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This all started when some gamers condemned developers for choosing a black man and a Japanese woman as the protagonists during a time period when this likely wouldn’t have been common. Now, other parts of the gameplay are under fire by some in Japan shortly after the game’s release in the country.

Japanese Prime Minister Responds to Assassin’s Creed Shadows Gameplay

“It Is Absolutely Unacceptable”

A few days ago, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was asked about Assassin’s Creed Shadows during a House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting. Ishiba responded to accusations of Japanese religious sites, shrines, being vandalized in gameplay shared online. This came after Democratic Party member Hiroyuki Kondo shared a clip of a shrine being destroyed on X: “Wake up, Ubisoft ‘defender,’ and hear our voice! What kind of Assassin’s Creed game destroys an actual religious site? Japanese culture is consumed but receives no respect. Here is a perfect example.”

To this viral clip, Ishiba stated: “I would like to discuss with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs what to do legally,” he then followed by saying: “It is absolutely unacceptable to graffiti a shrine. It is nothing but an insult to the country.”

He went on to say that respecting another country’s culture and religion is important and that any behavior that does the opposite will not be tolerated. This doesn’t mean that Ishiba wants the game banned from Japan, but more wanted gamers to know that doing these types of things in real life is not okay.

Ubisoft did make a different version ahead of Japan’s release, however. A few days after the discourse began, developers released a hotpatch that doesn’t allow gamers to destroy certain items in the game. This ensures that players can’t destroy shrines, which has been a controversial decision.

While some have applauded Ubisoft for being culturally sensitive, others have felt that the outrage over shrines was ridiculous to begin with. Gamers pointed out that all cultures are disrespected to an extent in video games. Wrote YouTuber Mightykeef: “There are very legitimate reasons to be upset at Ubisoft, and even criticism of AC: Shadows… but when you start saying things like this, you lose the plot and it gets hard to have a real conversation. You control the buttons you press. Also, you beat up the Pope in AC2.”

However, it’s not surprising to see Ubisoft make this correction after all of the previous controversy surrounding the game. With Assassin’s Creed Shadows so important to the sustainability of the company, better safe than sorry. Aside from the controversy, the game has been met with praise from critics.