Assassin’s Creed Shadows Editions Differences Guide

This guide explains what’s offered by each Assassin’s Creed Shadows Edition to help you decide what’s the best option for you.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is coming out on March 20, 2025 (updated). You have the option to get the Standard Edition, Deluxe Edition, and Collector’s Edition.

It’s worth noting that players who buy a copy of Assassin’s Creed Shadows will require an internet connection to install it but not to play it.

What is Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the next game of the Assassin’s Creed (AC) franchise. It will take us back to the feudal Japan of the sixteenth century.

Time Setting

This is a time when civil war, political instability, and conflicts with other countries turned Japan upside down. The concept of unification was extremely important during these times and the game will delve deeper into it.

Protagonists

You will be able to play as two different characters. The first one is called Naoe, an expertly trained Shinobi Assassin. Naoe is great at doing silent assassinations, infiltrations, and pretty much everything that requires a stealth approach.

There’s also Yasuke, a man who started as a slave and then ended up serving Oda Nobunaga, one of Japan’s most important men during the Sengoku era. Unlike Naoe, he’s perfectly fit for the most brutal and direct combat.

From what we saw in the trailer reveal, these two characters appear to be on opposite sides but something will make them work together as the shadows of the light.

You will be able to switch between both characters, if there are no restrictions for this, the game will have more variety of playstyles than other AC games.

Traditions of the AC franchise

Both Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla had extensive post-launch support with fresh new content releases and game fixes for a long time after the game’s launch. Hopefully, this will also be the case for Assassins Creed Shadows.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows adopts the established Ubisoft tradition for edition segmentation and packaging of game-related features and goodies. Even the non-AC Star Wars Outlaws Editions follow that familiar structure.

Pre-Order Bonus

If you pre-order any edition of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you will receive the upcoming expansion Claws of Awaji. In this expansion, Naoe and Yasuke will travel to a mysterious island and attempt to obtain a treasure. All of this while being stalked and ambushed by a new enemy, the Sanzoku Ippa.

Standard Edition

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Standard Edition costs 70 USD (retail) and includes just the base game and pre-order bonus (while available).

Digital Deluxe Edition

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Digital Deluxe Edition costs 90 USD (retail). In addition to the contents of the standard edition, the Digital Deluxe Edition includes the following items:

• Pre-Order Bonus, while available.
• Sekiryu Character Pack and Sekiryu Hideout Character Packs which come with cosmetics for Naoe and Yasuke.
• 5 skill points
• Red Dragon Photo Mode Filter.

Getting the game via Ubisoft+

Ubisoft+ is a subscription service that gives access to multiple Ubisoft games. Some of them are available on day 1 and Assassin’s Creed Shadows is included one of them. This subscription service costs 18 USD per month.

If you decide to get the subscription instead of directly buying the game, you will get the Digital Deluxe Edition and all of its contents. Keep in mind that canceling the subscription would remove access to Assassin’s Creed Shadows and every other game in the Ubisoft+ catalog.

Collector’s Edition

For those hardcore Assassin’s Creed fans, you will be able to purchase the Collector’s Edition (PS5/Xbox). It costs 230 USD (price adjusted after the new release date). It will be available when the game comes out on March 20th.

This is everything that’s included in the Collector’s Edition:

• Naoe and Yasuke dual character statue
• SteelBook case
• Collector’s art book
• Naoe’s katana tsuba (life-sized)
• World map
• Creed Wall Scroll
• Set of 2 sumi-e lithographs

Season Pass Removal

With the change of the release date, the Season Pass is being completely removed. Additionally, there will be no 3-day early access for anyone. All editions will be released on March 20, 2025.

Editions Comparison

The following table shows the differences between all editions.

Which edition should you get

If you’re already a subscriber of Ubisoft+ then you shouldn’t spend additional money on the game. This service provides access to multiple games and you’ll get all the content included in the Digital Deluxe Edition. It’s also a cheap way to try the game and play it at least once if you’re not sure about owning it.

If you don’t care about cosmetics, subscription services are not your thing, and just want to play the game without spending too much money then the Standard Edition is the clear winner.

If you just want to get the Edition of the game with the most content then get the Digital Deluxe Edition by either purchasing it directly or by subscribing to Ubisoft+.

But, if you are an avid lover of the franchise and money is not a problem, then the Collector’s Edition is probably the right choice for you. These editions are made in very limited numbers, once they’re out of stock the only way to get them is usually by paying a lot more than the MSRP.

Assuming the Collector’s Edition is not something you want, there are several months to decide which edition to get, so it might be a good idea to wait for more Assassin’s Creed Shadows content to be revealed before pulling the trigger.