An executive producer of the Assassin’s Creed series has addressed criticism from Elon Musk regarding Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s inclusion of a Black samurai as the main protagonist.
In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, one of the playable characters is Yasuke, a Black samurai. Some individuals criticized this choice for not aligning with historical accuracy. Elon Musk weighed in with a tweet stating “DEI kills art,” with DEI referring to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
In an interview with Game File, Assassin’s Creed series vice president executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté acknowledged Musk’s tweet. Côté expressed a desire to respond initially but refrained from engaging with Musk, stating that he did not want to fuel controversy.
Côté criticized Musk for “feeding hatred” and refrained from engaging in a Twitter war with him, believing it would not help convey the team’s perspective.
Yasuke was a real historical figure of African descent who served under Japanese daimyō Oda Nobunaga in the late 16th century. Côté defended the inclusion of Yasuke in the game, highlighting the mysterious nature of the character as fitting for the Assassin’s Creed franchise.
Côté emphasized that Musk’s opinions do not reflect the game being developed and encouraged players to experience the game firsthand before forming judgments. He also hinted at a specific cutscene in the game that may shed more light on Yasuke’s story.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set in feudal Japan and allows players to control both Yasuke and Naoe, offering a mix of combat and stealth gameplay. The game is scheduled to release on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on November 15.
In response to complaints about architectural inaccuracies in the game’s trailer, the director of Assassin’s Creed Shadows assured fans that these issues would be addressed before the RPG’s launch.
