Assassin’s Creed Shadows delayed to February

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed to next year, Ubisoft has confirmed in a statement to investors, setting a new date for 14th February 2025.

There’s a bit of a sweetener to get people to pre-order Assassin’s Creed Shadows, though, as buyers will all receive the first expansion for free, instead of having to buy into the Season Pass.

The delay follows on from an abrupt cancellation of Ubisoft’s Tokyo Game Show plans, and with the company under a bit of a cloud following the launch of Star Wars Outlaws.

“While the game is feature complete,” Ubisoft says, “the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title. This will enable the biggest entry in the franchise to fully deliver on its ambition, notably by fulfilling the promise of our dual protagonist adventure, with Naoe and Yasuke bringing two very different gameplay styles.”

CEO Yves Guillemot elaborated, “Our second quarter performance fell short of our expectations, prompting us to address this swiftly and firmly, with an even greater focus on a player-centric, gameplay-first approach and an unwavering commitment to the long-term value of our brands.”

I’m not entirely sure that a February launch is going to help them here. Assassin’s Creed Shadows will now be going up against Kingdom Come Deliverance II and Avowed just days on either side, and both of which had shifted from their own late 2024 release plans – Avowed specifically trying to avoid other big game launches, too.

It also feels like this is perhaps the seventh time in as many years that Ubisoft has recommitted itself to being more player-centric and meeting expectations better, so it’s not entirely clear how this will play out any differently. Taking more time to polish a game is still a positive, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows has potential to be a very popular game, thanks to the long-awaited Japanese setting. That said, the game has had a strange public perception ever since it was announced, thanks in no small part to featuring a black immigrant samurai as one of the two playable characters – something that Ubisoft has at times struggled to communicate well with fans and gamers around the world.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes us back to 16th century Japan during the Azuchi-Momoyama era, featuring a female ninja and a male samurai for its lead characters. That man is a historical character based off Yasuke, a man of African origin who was one of the rare immigrants to Japan and who served Oda Nobunaga. The female ninja is named Naoe from Iga Province, who is inducted into the local Assassin’s order to battle all those dastardly Templars.

Her story will be intertwined with that of Yasuke, letting you master complimentary playstyles as both characters have contrasting abilities – Naoe for stealth, Yasuke for direct combat. This will be a fresh take on the twin protagonists that we’ve seen on occasion through the Assassin’s Creed series.

via Variety

Tags: Assassin's Creed Shadows