Assassin's Creed Shadows gets stealth shrine changes amid concerns from Japanese government

Like most major game releases in the industry, Assassin's Creed Shadows has received a day-one patch today, right as it arrived to fans of the long-running series. However, it seems the minor update Ubisoft pushed out today has some stealth changes, especially focused on the shrines the RPG has in its open world.

The actual changelog has not been made public by Ubisoft, but IGN has managed to get details from the company:

• Players no longer getting stuck inside movable objects after dodging forward and interacting with them in kofuns
• Fix for procedural weapons being removed incorrectly when selling items
• Adjustments to prevent players from going out of bounds when proning against objects
• Improved horse navigation, reducing issues with turning and blocked paths
• Lighting adjustments for cave, kofun, and architectural entrances/exits
• Fixes for cloth clipping on Yasuke’s outfits (while riding) and Naoe’s outfits (while crouching)
• Citizens without weapons no longer bleed when attacked, reducing unintended blood spill in temples/shrines
• Tables and racks in temples/shrines are now indestructible (Some objects like drums or bowls can still be broken as they are generic ones present everywhere in the world) (Tables are still dynamic objects, so players can still move/push them).

From the list, it's the blood spilling and the change of tables and racks inside shrines that are the important changes. This is because on March 19, the Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba, commented on Assassin's Creed Shadows' depiction of real-life shrines and how players can interact with them.

This latest controversy that hit the game had Ishiba responding to a question regarding possible copycats vandalizing real-world locations after seeing the game in action. "How to address this legally is something we need to discuss with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the Prime Minister had said, focusing on stopping any possible copycats, without giving blame to Ubisoft. "Defacing a shrine is out of the question—it is an insult to the nation itself."

This comes after some videos surfaced prior to the launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows showing how players can destroy the insides of temples and strike down any innocent followers nearby.

While it doesn’t seem like Ubisoft was directly pressured by the Japanese government to make the changes, the company has gone ahead and changed how the player can behave inside temples as a precaution. The update has already gone live worldwide and is not just a Japan-focused change.