Veteran Japanese developer Yoshiki Okamoto has spoken out in defense of AC Shadows amidst controversy surrounding its protagonists. Okamoto, who spent over a decade at Capcom alone, has rightfully pointed out that AC Shadows is a “fantasy.”
AC Shadows controversy doesn’t make sense to Yoshiki Okamoto
Okamoto shared his thoughts on the Assassin’s Creed Shadows backlash in a video uploaded to his personal channel. As translated by Automaton, he spoke positively of the dual protagonist system and said that he previously wanted to make a game like AC Shadows with his Genji team back in the day.
Addressing the elephant in the room — the controversy surrounding the portrayal of Yasuke — Okamoto opined that the real-life figure is well-documented in history. He’s of the view that even if there are discrepancies between the game and history, he disagrees with the criticisms because AC Shadows is supposed to be a fantasy, not real life.
“It’s a game, it’s fantasy, not reality,” Okamoto said. “Even if Oda Nobunaga’s family crest is upside down, that’s just the Oda Nobunaga in the game, it does not impact how entertaining the game is.”
Yesterday, a rather absurd petition purportedly started by Japanese people demanding the cancellation of AC Shadows popped up online. However, upon looking into it, it emerged that the petition was created by someone in Germany, and had almost entirely been signed by players from the West.