The eagerly awaited new installment in the acclaimed historical open-world series, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, has had its release date pushed back from the initially planned November 15, 2024.
The revised launch date is now set for February 14, 2025, as revealed in a public letter from Marc-Alexis Côté, the franchise’s executive producer, shared on X. “We’ve come to realize that additional time is needed to enhance and perfect the game, particularly advancing some of our main features,” Côté explained. “Therefore, we have decided to delay the game’s release.”
Côté also confirmed that the game will be available on Steam and console platforms simultaneously on the new release date.
In a more detailed message aimed at investors, publisher Ubisoft elaborated that, although the game is complete in terms of features, lessons from the Star Wars Outlaws launch influenced the decision to allocate more time for refinement. “This additional polishing will ensure that this largest entry in our franchise can fully realize its vision, particularly through the innovative dual protagonist feature, with Naoe and Yasuke offering distinct gameplay experiences,” the letter detailed. The game had previously been announced to feature gameplay as both a samurai warrior and a stealthy assassin.
For PC gamers, the investor note highlighted a positive aspect: “the game will resume our tradition of releasing new titles on Steam on Day 1.”
Challenges Ahead
The high-budget Star Wars Outlaws, marketed as an “Assassin’s Creed in the Star Wars universe,” launched on August 30 but received mixed feedback. Despite acclaim for its detailed and authentic representation of the Star Wars settings and characters, the game was criticized for its monotonous and often exasperating stealth gameplay.
The game included protracted stealth missions that required restarting upon detection, yet it failed to provide adequate information and tools for players to navigate these challenges without falling back on trial and error. Following the release, one of the game’s creative heads assured that a patch would address issues with an early mission, although he downplayed the broader concerns, which did not sit well with many players.
Ubisoft has openly admitted that Star Wars Outlaws fell short of both sales and critical expectations.
It remains to be seen what specific takeaways Ubisoft will apply from the Star Wars Outlaws experience. However, with Assassin’s Creed being a flagship brand, the company must ensure Shadows receives a robust welcome from its audience. It marks the first major release in this beloved series in four years.
This delay aligns Ubisoft’s upcoming samurai title with the release of Ghost of Yōtei, the sequel to the Sony-exclusive Ghost of Tsushima—a game many believe outdid Ubisoft’s own formula. Moreover, Shadows will debut just months before the anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI, expected to dominate gaming discussions. Although there’s a chance GTA6 could be postponed, that remains speculative.
This is the first main franchise Assassin’s Creed game to be delayed in ten years; the previous instance was Assassin’s Creed Unity, which was postponed from October 28, 2014, to November 11. Despite that delay, the game launched with numerous technical issues, which were only resolved in subsequent updates.
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