[4] While previous entries in the Assassin's Creed series had traditionally used fictional protagonists, they chose the samurai character to be based on a historical figure, in this case Yasuke, a Black former African slave that had served under the daimyo Oda Nobunaga.

[3] The idea was inspired by their previous work on Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which featured the Frye twins as dual protagonists, where one favored stealth-focused gameplay while the other was built to be a brawler.

Amassing 50,000 signatures, the petition suggested Ubisoft misunderstood the role of samurai in Japan, and proposed that the game's release could lead to increased racism across Asian countries.

Historians and consultants also responded to the backlash, implying that most of the criticism was isolated to Western audiences and emphasizing that while there were very few historical documents, they had established him as a samurai in the service of Nobunaga during that time period.

[13] Trone Dowd of Inverse saw Yasuke's inclusion as a great way to set Shadows apart from other games that have explored that particular era, and argued that much of the criticism towards it was rooted in racism, describing concerns raised as "fraudulent" and felt that it was instead a lightning rod topic for "some of the worst people on the internet looking to turn fake outrage into cash and content".

Dowd pointed that the franchise had frequently featured historical inaccuracies as a fantasy work, and expressed that by acknowledging the criticisms they had only seemed to embolden them and as a result "needlessly poured gasoline onto a smoldering fire".

[13] Lia Kim of Junkee in her review of the game also addressed the backlash, arguing that many were not considering the impact such a character would have on Black players and feeling his inclusion and visibility in the series would bring them joy.

[14] Matt Kim of IGN meanwhile called Ubisoft's choice of utilized Yasuke a smart move, expressing that the decision to use a non-Asian character in the role helped set it apart from many other recent games featuring the samurai archetype.