Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Cultural Discovery Codex Brings Players Closer to History of Feudal Japan

Assassin's Creed Shadows, launching on March 20, will continue the series' tradition of bringing players closer to history with a section of its database titled "Cultural Discovery". As part of the in-game Codex, this feature offers players carefully selected encyclopedic entries on the history, art, and culture of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.  This cultural encyclopedia was written by historians and includes images from museums and institutions.

Above: The Importance of Tea, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, USA)

Similar to the History of Baghdad feature in Assassin's Creed Mirage, Cultural Discovery will be integrated into the main game of Assassin's Creed Shadows, and is tied to player progression. Cultural Discovery contains almost two times as many entries as the History of Baghdad, with more than 125 entries at launch, and more to come.

As players visit sites that provide a historical and cultural exploration of 16th-century Japan, they will unlock articles on the economy, castles, military affairs, daily life, historical figures, and events.

Above: Kabuto, courtesy of Royal Armory Museum of Madrid (Madrid, Spain)

One notable cultural codex entry, shown above, features an exclusive replica of a Kabuto, or Japanese war helmet, that symbolizes the first contact between Japan and Spain. The original Kabuto is part of one of the oldest collections of Japanese armor in Europe, and is kept at the Royal Armory in Madrid. This Kabuto had been almost entirely damaged during the fire suffered by the Royal Armory on July 10, 1884. Ubisoft, Patrimonio Nacional, and Spanish company Factum Arte joined forces to recover what was left of this Feudal Japan relic, create a faithful physical reconstruction of it, and make it accessible to people around the world through its inclusion in Assassin's Creed Shadows. The physical replica from Factum Arte will become part of the Royal Armory of Madrid's collection.

"Working with Ubisoft has allowed us to recover the original appearance of a unique relic and preserve it in the digital world. The partnership will also allow us to bring the Kabuto close to people all over the world and capture the attention of younger audiences, using Assassin's Creed Shadows as a platform to put it in context and to make its history known," said Álvaro Soler del Campo, Head of the Department of the Royal Armory of the Royal Palace of Madrid, belonging to Patrimonio Nacional.

Above: Osaka Castle, courtesy of Gentaro Kagawa. Historical Supervision - Hitoshi-Nakai. Produced by Rekishi-gunzo Magazine.

The entry above features art of Osaka Castle created by artist Gentaro Kagawa who provided significant contributions to Cultural Discovery. before his recent passing in December 2024. Kagawa graduated from the Graduate School of Japanese Painting at Musashino Art University and became a historical research illustrator. He received the Japan Castle Culture Special Award in April 2023.

Ubisoft also worked with several historians on writing entries for the cultural codex, including Professor Pierre-Francois Souyri.

"Writing the codex was quite challenging because I had to explain things clearly and concisely while adhering to the format. This meant making choices---elaborating on one point while leaving out another. Overall, it was an enjoyable task, and I must admit that I learned a great deal myself. In fact, this project inspired the idea for my new book on ninjas."

Above: Japanese Women in Society, courtesy of Tokyo National Museum (Tokyo, Japan)

Assassin's Creed Shadows is available for preorder now and launches on March 20 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Amazon Luna, Macs with Apple silicon via the Mac App Store, and Windows PC via the Ubisoft Store, Steam, and Epic Games Store.  Pre-order the game today to receive the Claws of Awaji expansion and Thrown to the Dogs bonus quest at no additional cost.