Ubisoft has announced Assassin’s Creed Shadow, the latest installment in their popular game series. Streamer Asmongold is frustrated on Twitch about the monetization and the new main character.
What is Asmongold frustrated about? Twitch streamer Asmongold reacts in his stream to the reveal of Assassin’s Creed Shadow on May 15, 2024. He primarily addresses two points:
- The various pre-order editions
- The male main character
In the new installment of the series, as in Assassin’s Creed London, there are again two protagonists: Naoe, a Shinobi assassin from the Japanese province of Iga, and Yasuke, a Black samurai.
The latter causes initial excitement for Asmongold. He believes Ubisoft wants to distract from its pricing policy. Here he gets really angry, as the game is offered in several versions:
- The base game costs €69.99 and is also available in two much more expensive versions that come with different goodies.
- The
Gold Edition
costs €109.99 and comes with pre-order bonuses, a season pass, and 3 days of early access. - For €20 more, the
Ultimate Edition
includes additional in-game items and even skill points for the player’s character. - Finally, Ubisoft offers to simply subscribe to its own subscription service Ubisoft+ in the premium edition. For €17.99 a month, you get the game in the ultimate edition with all related content.
- Pre-order buyers of all editions will also receive the quest
A Dog’s Life
.
What is Asmongold’s view on the matter? In fact, Asmongold mainly vents his anger about the editions and prices:
Add a main character to a game who is really controversial, and use that to divert people from the fact that they’re trying to get people to spend $130 on the damn game.
Asmongold via Youtube, May 16, 2024
According to Asmongold, Ubisoft is trying to blind players. Potential buyers would only want the base version, switch to the expensive edition because of the goodies, only to be positively surprised by the much cheaper subscription model.
Finally, Asmongold states that he doesn’t care if Ubisoft wants to “butcher” Japanese culture. But the monetization and the editions are a problem.
Here you can watch the trailer for the game:
Complicated prices and editions? Ubisoft has experience
Is the pricing policy new? Assassin’s Creed Shadow is not Ubisoft’s first ride with complex versions, bonus distributions, and day-one DLCs:
- The direct predecessor Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was released in a standard, gold, and ultimate edition with a distributed season pass and ultimate pack. Additionally, there was a physical edition with a figure.
- The recently released Skull and Bones was also offered in both a standard and a premium edition.
- As early as 2014, there were different versions and pre-order bonuses for games. South Park: The Stick of Truth could be pre-ordered in two different versions: once as
Super Samurai Spaceman Pack
and asUltimate Fellowship Pack
.
Ubisoft has long-standing experience with the pricing and pre-order policy used for Assassin’s Creed Shadow. In fact, Ubisoft is not the only one: different pre-order editions are also available from many other publishers such as Square Enix and Activision/Blizzard.
A Black Samurai – Who is Yasuke
Why is the protagonist being discussed? The male protagonist of Assassin’s Creed Shadow is currently being discussed because, as a man with dark skin, he does not fit the image of feudal Japan for many. However, there is indeed a historical counterpart for the character.
Who was the historical Yasuke? The samurai Yasuke fought on the side of Oda Nobunaga and was part of his army. He only appears in historical records between 1579 and 1582 – during this time, according to Ubisoft, the game is also set.
Almost nothing is known about his life before this; even his birth year cannot be precisely determined. It is believed that he was a victim of the slave trade and was trained as a child soldier in a Portuguese colony. The Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano eventually brought Yasuke to Japan (BBC.com via Web Archive).
In Kyoto, he met Oda Nobunaga (Time.com), who hired him. According to records, he spent his further time in Japan in the service of Nobunaga and was even elevated to the rank of samurai by him (Britannica.com). However, from 1582, Yasuke disappears from the records. The reason for this, such as his death or a return home, is not known.
If you want to read more details about Yasuke’s life, you can do so with the colleagues at Japandigest.
There is still quite a while until Assassin’s Creed Shadow is released in November. In the meantime, you can occupy your time with the recently launched Season 4 of Diablo 4 or the upcoming expansions of Destiny 2 and Final Fantasy XIV. If you are a PS5 owner and looking for specific suggestions, you can refer to our list: The best PS5 games according to Metacritic
