Ubisoft released a statement in which they announced that the release date of Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been moved up to February 14, 2025.
Right before their now-canceled appearance at the Tokyo Game Show, Ubisoft announced the change of date of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Sadly, this has become a very common practice in the game industry, especially big games developed by even bigger studios.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ new release date is February 14, 2025. Their official announcement shares the typical PR statement that pretty much every other company releases when a game must be delayed. They need more time to polish and refine some aspects of the game in order to provide the best experience to the players.
Usually, I would give the benefit of the doubt but I suspect that it is all related to the controversy surrounding the game’s characters. Personally, I have never cared about the historical accuracy of an Assassin’s Creed game. Especially because they do not claim to be.
However, I understand that this is not the perspective of everyone else and some players really like it when an Assassin’s Creed game is as accurate as possible. It’s important to note that Japan’s history is incredibly rich and full of key events that shaped the country’s history.
Eastern cultures are incredibly respectful of their roots and, as I stated before, even though Assassin’s Creed Shadows is not a historically accurate game, it could still be interpreted as a disrespectful portrayal of Japan’s history.
Regardless of what the true reason behind the delay is, the important question is if and what changes they are going to make. Changing Yasuke or Naoe seems very unlikely at this point and changing the game mechanics shown at Ubisoft Forward sounds almost impossible. Other than that, I can only think of visual and performance improvements.
Many recent games had very bad performance or visual issues on release and some even persisted for months after the release. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor is the best example of this. Star Wars Outlaws had a better performance but Kay Vess’ animations look bad and the late-game cinematics often feel buggy or even unfinished.
Since Outlaws is also made by Ubisoft, it wouldn’t be the craziest idea to think that both games could share similar issues.
On the bright side, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be available on Steam from day one. Pre-orders of the available editions are being refunded and for future pre-orders the first expansion will be free for anyone who pre-ordered the game.
Hopefully, this delay will be for the better of the game and most importantly, for the improvement of the player’s experience.
Here is the full statement made by the AC Shadows team on social media:
“Dear players,
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.
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.
We understand this decision will come as disappointing news, especially to those who’ve been waiting patiently for an Assassin’s Creed game inspired by Feudal Japan, but we sincerely believe this is the best interest of the game, and ultimately your experience as a player.
Rest assured we are looking forward to the moment you will embark on a memorable adventure with Naoe and Yasuke.
Until then, we thank you for your ongoing support.”
