AssCreed fans have waited a millennium for a sequel set in feudal Japan, the birthplace of ninjas and samurai. Shame on you Ubisoft’s Tenchu-versus-Tenchu dreamers, because you’ll have to hold that candle for a bit longer. Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed until next year. It was supposed to be released on November 12, 2024 — it’s now set for February 14, 2025.
The news comes in the form of an update to Ubisoft's 2024-2025 fiscal year goals, primarily in response to a “softer than expected launch for Star Wars Outlaws.” According to Uncle Ubi, Assassin's Creed Shadows is “feature-complete,” but the lessons learned from Outlaws need more time in the oven to sink in.
“While the gameplay features are complete, the lessons we learned from the Star Wars Outlaws release have allowed us additional time to further polish the game,” they said. “This will ensure that the biggest entry in the series fully delivers on its ambition, particularly by delivering on the promise of our dual hero adventure with Naoe and Yasuke bringing two very different play styles.”
In news that will come to mind for those who think live service expansion roadmaps are the Devil's downloadables, Ubisoft is “departing from the traditional Season Pass model,” but players who pre-order the game will get the first expansion for free. Shadows will also now “mark the return of our new releases on Steam Day 1” — it will launch there instead of being exclusive to Ubisoft's own store at first. Makes sense — I'm pretty sure Steam has a bigger audience than Ubisoft's own store, because I forgot there was one.
Ubisoft isn't giving up on Outlaws just yet. They'll be releasing a full update ahead of its Steam launch on November 21st. “In response to player feedback, Ubisoft's development teams are now fully engaged to rapidly implement a number of updates to polish and improve the player experience to position Star Wars Outlaws as a strong long-term performer, with the goal of reaching a broad audience for the holiday season,” the company said in a statement. The phrasing here reminds me a bit of British generals promising that World War I would be over by Christmas, but I'm probably being harsh — I've heard Outlaws is pretty good for a Star Wars game.
The primary audience for these statements, of course, is investors, who have been hit in the neck by Ubisoft’s recent plummeting stock price and lower-than-expected returns on blockbuster games. CEO Yves Guillemot acknowledged in some executive comments that “our second-quarter performance fell short of our expectations,” while pledging to focus more on “a player-centric, gameplay-focused approach and an unwavering commitment to the long-term value of our brands.” He added that “Open World Adventures and GaaS native experiences” are Ubisoft’s bread and butter.
It also makes a brief reference to the ongoing, er, debate about the representational politics of Ubisoft games. In case you missed it, Outlaw earned the ire of some misogynists online for choosing a female lead who didn’t look like an AI-hallucinated Jessica Rabbit, while Shadows was similarly slammed by racists for having a black samurai protagonist (if you don’t like what you see in either game, please don’t get mad at me in the comments – there are other reasons to dislike these games!). Guillemot copes by keeping his eyes to the horizon and refusing to agree with anyone, as is customary practice for corporate executives.
“Finally, let me address some of the polarized commentary around Ubisoft lately,” he writes. “I want to reaffirm that we are a company focused on entertainment, creating games for the broadest possible audience, and that our goal is not to push a specific agenda. We are committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy.”
I got a close look at Assassin's Creed Shadows at Summer Games Fest, and it looked good among Assassin's Creeds, with an unusually strong stealth and melee ratio. But I'd definitely wait until 2025. Delaying an open-world blockbuster these days is like delaying a lunar eclipse, giving smaller games without an established brand presence a chance to get some sun. Enjoy the breathing space, uhhhh [checks calendar] Piercing head!