If you are one of those anticipating the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows on November 15, we are sad to inform you that Ubisoft has pushed back the release date until 2025. The announcement was published through its official social media handles on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.
“Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a dream project for us; finally bringing the series to Feudal Japan with many features developed with our community in mind, such as parkour or the renewed stealth, brought by new technology, all set in a beautiful and immersive world,” Ubisoft wrote in the announcement.
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“This is an ambitious addition to the franchise, a rich experience that can be lived through the eyes of two unique protagonists – but we realize we need more time to polish and refine the experience, pushing further some of our key features.
“As such, we’ve made the decision to postpone the release date to February 14, 2025. The game will release on a broad range of platforms, including Steam at launch. Additionally, preorders will be refunded and all future preorders will be granted the first expansion for free.”
Ubisoft regretted the disappointment that players who had waited eagerly for the game would feel but assured them that the decision was “in the best interest of the game” as well as the player experience.
During the company’s conference call, Ubisoft’s chief financial officer, Frederick Duguet explained further the reason for delaying the game saying, “All the focus and everything that really informs our decision is to make sure that we polish the game and provide this fantastic promise”.
The negative sentiments against Ubisoft continued in the comment section with many calling Ubisoft ‘woke’. A user with the handle @dmvshaban left a comment saying, “Just cancel at it at this point lmao. Ubisoft is cooked”.
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JoeRaptor, a content creator believed it was the best decision. “While I was hyped to play it this November, this is always the right decision. Take your time & we will be there on Valentine’s Day”.
In the September 25 conference call, Ubisoft also revealed that it will be ditching its traditional Season Pass model saying, “All players will be able to enjoy the game at the same time on February 14”.
Ubisoft CEO reacts to concerns about releasing Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Ghost of Yōtei in the same year
At the September 24 State of Play, Sony announced Ghost of Yōtei, a sequel to Ghost of Tsushima that is set in 1603 and scheduled for a 2025 release. Consequently, there was concern that the PlayStation exclusive may affect the commercial reception of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows which is also set in the late 16th century.
The concern was brought up during the conference call. Ubisoft was asked if the historical similarity of Ghost of Yōtei to Shadows could harm the sales of its product since they will now be released in the same year. In response, the company’s CEO Yves Guillemot played down the likelihood of that happening.
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“I would like to say that there’s a lot of space for very high-quality games, and those two games can sell very well,” Guillemot said.
Instead of comparing both games, Duguet said their primary concern was ensuring Shadows hit the internal quality threshold the company has set.
“On the competition related to Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the focus is really to make sure that we deliver a fantastic experience, with the game’s dual protagonist approach, with two different and complementary gameplays, with Yasuke and Naoe, in a setting taking place in feudal Japan that should be really enticing.”
Do you think delaying Assassin’s Creed Shadows was a good move? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
