Officials of the Itate Hyozu Shrine in Japan are "taking action" against Assassin's Creed Shadows after a video circulated online showing a player destroying parts of the interior in the video game.
As reported by Sankei News (spotted and translated by Automaton), representatives of the Itate Hyozu Shrine in Hyogo Prefecture are "taking appropriate action" and say they were not consulted about the Shrine's inclusion in the game. "If they had contacted us, we would have refused."
Sankei News also interviewed an official who debunks a rumor that Japan’s Association of Shinto Shrines was also getting involved, but its report does confirm previous, unsubstantiated rumors about the officials' distate with the situation.
- Assassin's Creed Shadows draws attention of Japan's Prime Minister, who says "defacing a shrine is out of the question" in real life, but politicians acknowledge "freedom of expression must be respected" in the game
- Assassin's Creed Shadows' day-one patch removes blood and makes shrines indestructible following backlash
It's a complex situation. I can sympathize with the officials who feel a site that has meaning to them is being desecrated in the name of entertainment, but much of the wider response appears to selectively forget that the Assassin's Creed series' relationship with organized religion, particularly in Europe, has rarely been particularly kind.
Are we all forgetting that Ezio beat the Pope himself to a bloody pulp inside the Vatican in Assassin's Creed 2? What about that time Arno killed a target while hidden inside a church confessional in Assassin's Creed Unity? You could raid and loot churches in Valhalla and could climb over mosques in Mirage.
It feels like the backlash is all from the same crowd who are angry there's a Black Samurai in the game. Yasuke is a notable figure in historical documents, but some still believe it's unrealistic to have a Black person in the Japanese Sengoku period.
While you're here, check out our list of upcoming video game release dates and see if you can guess which one is going to have a controversy next.
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