Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed logo controversy was entirely avoidable

Ubisoft has apologised after eagle-eyed gamers spotted a logo belonging to a historical re-enactment group inside the upcoming instalment of the Assassin's Creed franchise. 

Two pieces of concept art for the upcoming Japan-set game were found to contain the logo for Sekigahara Teppo-tai, a group made up of volunteers who perform reenactments at public events. (Looking for design inspiration? Check out the best logos of all time.)

"We have received notice that two pieces of concept art previously released for Assassin's Creed: Shadows use the flag of the Sekigahara Battlefield Hospitality Union "Sekigahara Rifle Corps" without permission," Ubisoft Japan announced in a (translated) post on X (above). "The group was given the opportunity to apologise, and it was accepted. The art in question will not be used or distributed any further beyond this date, except for being included in the artbook in the Collector's Edition. We deeply apologise for this matter."

While the flag has been removed from the game and concept art, as noted by Siliconera, it's too late to strike it from the the physical art book included in the collector’s edition of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

It's hard not to argue that this was entirely avoidable. While it makes sense that references were used for concept art to ensure authenticity, they surely shouldn't be making their way into the actual art. One imagines Ubisoft will be tightening up its design protocols after this.

This isn't the first time Ubisoft has come under fire over its Assassin's Creed art in recent months. Back in October it was caught using AI to create a dodgy poster for the franchise. And when it isn't fielding design complaints, the company is also busy trying to... bring back NFTs?