A petition ordering the cancellation of Ubisoft’s upcoming title, Assassin's Creed Shadows, has now reached 50,000 signatures. The calls to cancel Shadows comes following a wave of controversies regarding the appearance of the African samurai Yasuke, described as being the series' first playable character based on a real historical figure.

The Change.org petition started by Shimizu Toru states that "the lack of historical accuracy and cultural respect has been a serious issue regarding the upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Shadows by game developer Ubisoft. The game is based on Japanese samurai and ignores the fact that samurai were a higher class of warrior class and should have been ‘gokenin’ or servants of nobles."

Furthermore, it then goes on to say that the game is "a serious insult to Japanese culture and history," suggesting that its creators' intent may be "linked to Asian racism," before calling for the game's release to be canceled until Ubisoft shows "sincere research and respect for Japanese history and culture."

In real life, it has been documented that Nobunaga was fascinated by Yasuke's appearance and had him armed with a sword as he accompanied him. However, he may never have actually reached the rank of samurai. Instead he served more as a kind of attendant. There have been no historical sources about Yasuke after his time with Nobunaga.

But in spite of that, in Assassin's Creed Shadows, Yasuke seems to be invited to join Nobunaga's army and rise to the rank of samurai, becoming part of Nobunaga's inner circle.

Moreover, it's worth mentioning the fact that the petition doesn't seem to criticize the portrayal of the shinobi — also commonly referred to as ninjas in most media — in Assassin's Creed Shadows, focusing mostly on Yasuke.

Ubisoft hasn’t responded to the petition yet. However, Assassin's Creed Shadows is currently due to launch on 15th November, with those who pre-order the Gold or Ultimate editions of the game or those who are subscribed to Ubisoft+ getting access to the game three days earlier.