Ubisoft apologizes for using an unauthorized flag design in Assassin's Creed Shadows concept art, won't use it anymore - except for in its pricey collector's edition art book

Ubisoft has issued a public apology and pledged to mostly stop using two pieces of Assassin's Creed Shadows concept art after it was pointed out that they included a flag made by a real-life historical re-enactment group who hadn't actually given permission for it to be used.

As reported by PC Gamer, the issue was first raised last month by Twitter user @matchlock_kage, one of the members of the Sekigahara Teppotai (or Sekigahara Rifle Corps) group in Japan. The user shared a clear image of the group's flag – which is a distinctive black, red, and white design with the group's name on the front – and pointed out that if you zoom in on two particular pieces of art for Assassin's Creed Shadows, you can see the flag in the background. You can look at the flag in question below, as well as the two pieces of art – in the first piece of art, it can be seen right next to the horse in the bottom middle, and in the second piece, it can be seen next to a group of three individuals on the right side, surrounded by a fence. 

While @matchlock_kage first said (translated from Japanese via Google and DeepL) that "I'm not sure how to react," they went on to contact Ubisoft Japan to inform the company of the issue. Eventually, they followed up to confirm that the matter was "being discussed internally," and now, Ubisoft Japan has put out a statement on Twitter to address the situation.

In the statement (translated via Google and DeepL), Ubisoft Japan confirms that it has apologized to the Sekigahara Teppotai group, which accepted the apology. From now on, the art in question won't be distributed, with the exception of its inclusion in the official 84-page art book, which is included as one of the big bonuses of the pricey collector's edition of the game (it'll set diehard fans back by a whopping $280). The company didn't elaborate on why this is the case, but it's likely that it's too late to change the book ahead of the game's release in November?

While seemingly an imperfect solution to the situation given that the flag will still appear in an official capacity in the collector's edition art book, @matchlock_kage says that they and the rest of the Sekigahara Teppotai group feel relieved that the artwork has been removed. The user's tweet also suggests that the flag's inclusion in the artwork was allegedly the result of it not being checked carefully, implying that the whole thing could have been an unfortunate mistake.

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