Part 4/10:
The troubled development history of Shadows played a significant role in its failure. Internal reports from January of last year revealed low morale within Ubisoft and pointed to cultural insensitivity and mishandling of thematic elements, especially relating to Japan. Ubisoft made questionable efforts to promote cultural authenticity—such as attempting to validate the existence of Yasuke as a historical samurai—only to be called out for factual inaccuracies and cultural insensitivity. These missteps led to criticism from Japanese audiences and detracted from the game's credibility.