In an interview with ScreenRant, Assassin's Creed Shadows director Jonathan Dumont explained how he personally chooses to spend his time between the two protagonists. They both have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, with Yasuke is big, powerful, and brutish, while Naoe is light, nimble, and quick, and Dumont wisely takes advantage of that.

"I play quite a bit balanced out and what happens is, I play with one for three, four, five hours, and then I switch, and then I just play two, three hours," said Dumont. "Usually I play stealth and then I play, all right, let me destroy some camps and stuff all right for a while. And then I just change like that."

Content-wise, Dumont said each hero has their own unique intro scenes and questlines, but he recommends simply playing the characters you're having more fun with.

"So I don't think you're missing out on things too much," he said. "I think it's more on your preference to [say], 'okay, I'll see how the game will adapt a little bit to the character if you choose one over the other.' They get individual introductions and then they get their own questline also. So that one is, let's say Naoe, a personal questline cannot be played by Yasuke and those are two distinct things. But the core of the game can be pick your character and the game adapts."

It's still not entirely clear how many unique scenarios can be missed, but Dumont said several times you won't be "missing out on things too much," adding, "we're not imposing players try to split the time. So if you prefer one character for any reason, you can play maybe - I don't know, I'm not going to put a percentage - but quite a bit of the game using one of them. But if you want to balance it out."

Assassin's Creed Shadows launches on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on March 20.

Be sure to check out our Assassin's Creed Shadows big preview hub for more details about the game from our hands-on preview.

It appears that Ubisoft must toe the line between two sets of expectations, if not surpass them completely. On one side of this precarious path sits Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch's artful ode to samurai action cinema that has long been considered the pinnacle of its subgenre. On the other, Assassin's Creed Odyssey is an undisputed fan favorite among the best Assassin's Creed games – especially when it comes to the trio of existing RPG entries – that has been held up repeatedly as an example of Ubisoft's finest work. Each could make the case for unfavorable comparisons when critiquing Shadows as either a samurai game or an Assassin's Creed RPG, mounting pressure on the publisher to show how it has learned from past mistakes.

After replaying Odyssey in anticipation, though, I'm reminded that Ubisoft is already sitting on all the ingredients it needs to come up with a winning formula. By leveraging the series' greatest strengths, I have confidence that Assassin's Creed Shadows can blow both of its biggest comparisons out of the water – and it all starts with climbing.

Side questing

It's wild to think that Shadows should have been in our hands back in November. Even after the first delay, I was still disappointed to hear that the upcoming Assassin's Creed game had been delayed once again, this time to March 20, to account for "gameplay quality control." This second postponement might have only nudged it a few weeks back from its intended February 14 release, but I had been so ready to immerse myself in everything Assassin's Creed that I couldn't help but feel cheated. Thank goodness, then, that Assassin's Creed Odyssey is still among the best games on Xbox Game Pass.

I've spent almost every evening over the last week exploring ancient Greece as misthios Kassandra, playing double agent to Spartan and Athenian alike as I take on each contract with a barefaced liar's smile. It's been a delight to rediscover Odyssey's responsive, reactive open world, teeming with side missions and outposts to stealthily loot and high-level mercenaries I have no choice but to avoid. History feels so alive in this game to the point that I rarely question any of it, turning it into an educational as well as entertaining experience when I let myself get caught up in the drama of it all. But with one of Shadows' biggest gameplay reworks being the implementation of unclimbable surfaces to dial into the realism, I'm suddenly picking holes in Odyssey's illusion. As I climb a statue of Zeus on the island of Kephallonia, Kassandra scaling the smooth, marble curvature of his gigantic backside as if part mountain goat before expertly landing the three-foot jump to an overhang, I have to admit that maybe level-locked assassination damage isn't Odyssey's one and only sticking point.

If Ubisoft wants to capitalize on the immersion factor in Shadows, that process would start at these smaller breaks from reality. Climbing foothold-free surfaces with the strength and grace of an acrobat is one thing a burly samurai like Yasuke might be less proficient at, while I do hope to see sleek shinobi Naoe putting even the likes of Arno to shame with her parkour. Assassin's Creed Unity had some of the best, weightiest traversal in the entire franchise, and if its buggy launch hadn't soured its initial critical and public reception alike, I think it would be better remembered for it.

In with the old

While I'm keen to see Shadows steal realistic climbing mechanics from the series' past, with Ubisoft Quebec calling the shots I'd be remiss not to once again extol the joys of Assassin's Creed Syndicate and how much I hope to see the spirit of my favorite AC game in this latest offering. It might be a rogue choice – to anyone other than myself and Senior Staff Writer Heather Wald, anyway – but I've always loved the heart and soul it exudes.

A tightly written script and impressive vocal performances bolstered Evie and Jacob Frye as they pioneered the existence of dual protagonists in the franchise, their moments of playful back-and-forth establishing reasons to root for each twin for respective reasons. I've not found an Assassin's Creed protagonist as likeable as the Fryes since Ezio himself, which is really saying something considering how fond I am of Kassandra. We already know Ubisoft can hit a home run when it comes to brilliant character writing, so if Yasuke and Naoe have even a hint of that spark I saw in Evie and Jacob's eyes, Shadows could well become my new favorite Creed.

Thus, the perfect combination of elements is clear to me. Shadows needs the believable weight of Unity's parkour to immerse us, well-rounded protagonists who embrace flaw and brilliance alike, and a world that channels a deeper sense of historical realism like Odyssey's – with a lot of artistic fictional embellishment to seal the deal. I'm more than ready for Ubisoft to deliver all of the above on March 20 – and if it gets delayed again, I guess I'll have to brave Assassin's Creed Valhalla's daunting wealth of DLC to keep that excitement stoked.

Check out all the upcoming Xbox Series X games we're itching to see in 2025

Twinsies

In our hands-on Assassin's Creed Shadows preview, our Games Editor describes the upcoming Ubisoft game as "stealthier and bloodier than ever." The latter is courtesy of the violent, often barbaric nature of Feudal Japanese warfare, which is manifested in Yasuke's combat style as a merciless samurai. Not only does it make more sense for Yasuke to fight differently from Naoe considering this distinction, but a lot of what I'm hearing about his gameplay is oddly reminiscent of a certain loudmouth Brit.

2015's Assassin's Creed Syndicate is my favorite of all the best Assassin's Creed games, and a large part of that is down to its series-first twin dynamic. Jacob and Evie Frye are both assassins in the Victorian London action epic, but their respective skill trees speak to how differently each character plays. Slight and agile Evie is the stealth master, her highest level ability "chameleon" being a character-specific skill that allows her to turn almost invisible in the blink of an eye. Conversely, Jacob's skills pertain to a stronger display of force. Jacob can still be stealthy if you play your cards right, but as it comes so much easier to his sister, you can safely swap between twins (most of the time) to plan your approach according to your preferred playstyle. In the Jack the Ripper DLC, a fear mechanic gets added to the mix. Brutal Takedowns replace simple assassinations, horrifying on-lookers with violent displays of murder that send them scattering. It's not too dissimilar, then, to the sound of Yasuke's own "Brutal Assassinations" in AC Shadows that have you "yell to attract attention just before the kill."

With Syndicate also developed by Ubisoft Quebec, it's clear that Shadows is a logical evolution of this twin dynamic as well as that of combat extremes. Much like Jacob, Yasuke can attempt to be stealthy if he so wishes, but each duo is supposed to offer oppositional experiences. The only difference is that Assassin's Creed Shadows simply calls a spade a spade, removing the gray area between stealth and action as offered in Syndicate. By stripping Yasuke of the assassin shackles altogether, Ubisoft is finally answering a question it's had on its lips since 2015: what would two refined, evolved combat fantasies look like in one Assassin's Creed game? And what if there was nothing stealthy about one of them?

You've been here before

Syndicate isn't the only AC game that's tried to broaden our combat horizons. Ubisoft has been seeding the concept of a non-assassin Assassin's Creed hero for years now, permitting greater flexibility and choice with each new game.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla's largely inconsequential choice between a male or female Eivor is down to nothing but player preference, but broad-shouldered male Eivor could be considered far more awkward when it comes to stealth than his lithe female counterpart – though given how broken stealth was at launch, I still think Valhalla feels best when played as a brash Viking RPG instead. Meanwhile, biological advantage has nothing to do with combat diversity in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Both Alexios and Kassandra have access to three skill trees – Hunter, Warrior, or Assassin – to let the player decide how heavily to invest in each playstyle.

I'm comforted in knowing I won't have to make that agonizing judgement call in Assassin's Creed Shadows. At the same time, I'm prepared to be much more careful with Naoe than I am with my current Kassandra, who can easily waste a whole Spartan stronghold as a one-woman armored stealth-tank. Shadows looks set to not only demand we think smarter not harder about our combat approach, but consider each character's strengths and weaknesses from a role playing perspective. In my mind, that only makes a non-assassin protagonist the perfect next step as Ubisoft experiments with the series' RPG future – although if all goes well, you'll hear my impassioned Syndicate 2 demands from outer space.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is one of our 50 most wanted games of 2025, and there's more where it came from.

At the time of writing, the stealth 'em up is rated CERO Z, which means you have to be over the age of 18 to play it. However, there remains work to do.

In a post on Twitter (thanks, Automaton), Ubisoft says it's been forced to tone down the gore as depictions of severed heads and limbs have proved an issue. As such, while you'll have the choice of toggling dismemberment on and off internationally, the choice will be removed in Japan. Depictions of cut body surfaces are also going to be altered.

Automaton also notes that Ubisoft mentions modifications to voiced lines when compared to its overseas counterparts, though the developer doesn't get into specifics, which has apparently left some fans somewhat confused.

It's not the first time Japan's video game rating system has made headlines. Just last year, Stellar Blade's "uncensored" Japan release sparked some annoyance from an EA executive as Dead Space was refused a CERO rating unless it altered its gore.

It's not the first time Ubisoft has faced altering Assassin's Creed Shadows, either. The developer apologized last year for using an unauthorized flag design in Assassin's Creed Shadows concept art and has made several statements over ensuring the game remains as faithful as possible.

Regardless, we don't have too long to wait and see how Assassin's Creed Shadows fares. While the history-soaked RPG has been delayed a few times, we look set to finally get it on March 20.

Assassin's Creed Shadows devs want you to know that Yasuke isn't an assassin, and that means he's not getting any of those classic assassin abilities.

In an interview with GamesRadar+, associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois confirmed that "Yasuke is not an assassin, because the narrative makes sense that he is not." Elsewhere, Lemay-Comtois said that a big part of Yasuke's importance in the plot of Assassin's Creed Shadows stems from his existence as an outsider, someone who can find his way into a distinctly Japanese story without having to wholly understand Japanese culture.

Lemay-Comtois didn't reveal any story details, so we don't know exactly what will happen to Yasuke by the end of the story, but he's clear that "he works with [fellow protagonist] Naoe, but he's not an assassin, and he doesn't have to be." That means that he's not likely to have access to the kind of combat and stealth tools that Naoe does - the split design forced Ubisoft to "always embrace" the reality that these two characters are completely different. 

Embracing that means the team could never go say "'what if Yasuke has Eagle Vision? It would be easier'." "No," explains Lemay-Comtois, "he needs to not have it so you play different with him than you play with Naoe."

While it goes against Assassin's Creed tradition, this tangential relationship with the Assassins is far from unheard of. Haytham Kenway, a major character through Assassin's Creed: Black Flag and Rogue, is not an assassin, and Lemay-Comtois points to Barnabas, the ship captain from Assassin's Creed Odyssey as another character who plays a central role but is never actually an assassin. Yasuke is "much more involved in the story" of Shadows than Barnabas was in Odyssey, "but he doesn't have to be an assassin, he has his own motivation and core beliefs that align with Naoe's, and off they go."

Be sure to check out our Assassin's Creed Shadows big preview hub for more details about the game from our hands-on preview.

In an interview with GamesRadar+, Jonathon Dumont explained why Assassin's Creed Shadows characters Yasuke and Naoe have such different ability sets, pointing to Assassin's Creed Syndicate for his answer. That game, also developer by Shadows main studio Ubisoft Quebec, was the first to feature the dual-character archetype that appears in this new game.

"In Syndicate," Dumont explains, "what we set up is to have banter between different types of assassins. The two twins are bickering at each other and it's a cool vibe. They were a little different but not that much in playstyle." When it comes to Shadows, however, the duality of its characters "was driven at first not necessarily by the story, but a little bit more the gameplay."

In making an Assassin's Creed game set in Japan, Dumont reveals that it was the need for specific character archetypes that helped create Yasuke and Naoe - "we wanted a shinobi archetype, a ninja," he says, but it was also clear that the game would need a samurai archetype.

"But marrying the two on top of each other sort of diluted both fantasies," he says. "So we tried to make it their own. We really wanted to have the ninja fantasy - you climb everywhere, you have gadgets, you throw kunai, and then you stay in the dark, you're really spry, you have a grappling hook. But once you get in combat, you can get overwhelmed." As a samurai, clearly Yasuke has very few of those tools at his disposal, but instead, Dumont describes his playstyle as "the opposite" of Naoe's - "Samurai kicks the front door in, is a super-warrior."

But the need for those two different types of characters doesn't just stem from Syndicate. Dumont explains that it's also linked to the overall brand, and how it shifted with Assassin's Creed Origins. "Earlier on, it was much more of a parkour and assassination and stealth-driven game, and then with Origins, we had a lot more combat." That was also the case in Valhalla, and it means that now, "we have fans of both." That means, hopefully, "have fans that will all like what's done in Shadows," because fans of the Period 1 games - from the original game to Syndicate - and Period 2 - from Origins onwards - should all find a playstyle they like in Yasuke or Naoe.

You can find out more about those playstyles in our big Assassin's Creed Shadows preview.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, Shadows' associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois explains the unique challenge that came with the Japanese setting. First and foremost, he says that the team is "really good at taking a place that has not been put in a game and then putting it in a game" – something which doesn't apply to Japan, which has been "showcased in many, many, many medias" and "has its own culture of video game development" to boot.

"So we had to be very careful to handle it with care, to do our research, to due diligence, to double check with Japanese experts on astounding amounts of details," he explains, giving the example of the protagonists taking off their shoes when they enter their hideout. 

"Japan has been, I would say, very, very tricky, and we want to be respectful about everything Japan. [...] We want to avoid telling a culture about their own culture," he continues. "That's one of the reasons as well why we have Yasuke as an outsider in the game. His perspective allows us to be a little more, I would say, free in terms of what Yasuke can do or say, as he's not from Japan and he doesn't know exactly everything. We were careful and attentive to feedback, and still, it's been a pretty constructive journey learning about Japan on the way."

In a separate interview, creative director Jonathan Dumont tells us that Ubisoft had to "be careful that we're not making a Japanese game. We're making an Assassin's Creed game set in Japan." This comes alongside the "pressure that we put on ourselves anyway," as the devs "want to make a good game set in Japan," and "our fans want it," too. 

As for the game's overall quality, he says that the "delay has allowed us actually to fine-tune and perfect and debug further down so that we can deliver that experience." With that in mind, hopefully it'll be worth the wait when it launches on March 20.

Be sure to check out our Assassin's Creed Shadows big preview hub for more details about the game from our hands-on preview.

Alongside female warrior Naoe, Black samurai Yasuke is one of the two main stars of Assassin's Creed Shadows, but since his reveal, some have shared disparaging comments online questioning his inclusion, the historical accuracy of his identity, and debating over whether he was a real samurai in the first place. Spoiler alert, he was – he served under Oda Nobunaga – and series executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté previously spoke out against "attacks driven by intolerance" while pointing out that "Yasuke's presence in Japanese history is fact."

Now, speaking to Rolling Stone, associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois touches on the discourse, acknowledging that "there's been some noise online about what this game is and why it's such and such," but the key point is that "we know what we're making." He continues: "We know why Yasuke is in the game, we know how he fits, we know how he builds towards the story, we know how critical he is. We know how Naoe is important. It's not Naoe's game, it's not Yasuke's game, it's both of these characters' games."

Furthermore, Lemay-Comtois says that players "can make their own minds up about what it is that Ubisoft Quebec set out to do" once they actually experience the game for themselves. The associate game director seems pretty confident, too, noting: "I think we're going to surprise damn near everyone who puts their hands on it."

In GamesRadar+'s Assassin's Creed Shadows hands-on preview, games editor Oscar Taylor-Kent says he "left more excited for the future of Assassin's Creed than I have been in years," calling the two protagonists "instant favorites, easy to love within moments of meeting them for the first time." Needless to say, things are looking promising for its release on March 20. 

Be sure to check out our Assassin's Creed Shadows big preview hub for even more impressions and info about Ubisoft's next game. 

First announced as Assassin's Creed Codename Red, there have been a ton of updates, trailers, and even a new hands-on preview of Assassin's Creed Shadows for us to unpack recently. In a bit of a throwback to Syndicate, we know that the upcoming open-world RPG features dual protagonists in Naoe and Yasuke. The two heroes have markedly different playstyles, letting you swap between stealth and combat-focused characters depending on what the situation - or the story - calls for. There's also romance, relationships, and pre-order bonuses to look forward to, and with each new update, we just get more excited.

No one can deny that Ubisoft is cooking up one of the biggest new games for 2025, but Shadows is just one of many upcoming Assassin's Creed games on the horizon, as we'll also see titles like Assassin's Creed Hexe in the future. For now, though, keep reading for a breakdown of everything that you need to know about the next installment in the iconic series!

Assassin's Creed Shadows release date

The Assassin's Creed Shadows release date is set for March 20, 2025. Originally, the game was set to come out on November 15, 2024, before its initial February 14 push, and now, a second delay has pushed it firmly into March territory.

A statement about the first delay was posted on September 25, 2024, explaining how more time was needed to give players the game that they deserve. In the post, the team also clarified that refunds will be issued to everyone who pre-ordered the game and that the game will now be released across multiple platforms, including PC via Steam.

"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 in the best interest of the game and ultimately your experience as a player," the statement reads.

Assassin's Creed Shadows platforms

Assassin's Creed Shadows will launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. That means that PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch players will be unfortunately out of luck. Apple has also confirmed that it will release on Mac at the same time.

There are also rumours that Assassin's Creed Shadows will be on the list of upcoming Switch 2 games to be announced later on in the year. However, we are still waiting for Nintendo to confirm those speculative statements.

Assassin's Creed Shadows trailer

The Assassin's Creed Shadows trailer above was unveiled on May 15 2024, giving us our first proper look at the setting, characters, and lore of its world. The trailer introduces us to Yasuke and Naoe, a samurai and shinobi respectively, who will serve as our dual protagonists in this story that wants to deliver the power fantasies of two very different Azuchi-Momoyama era warriors.

From the trailer, we can see that Yasuke's playstyle favors the slick arts of the samurai, while Naoe's quiet, deft work in the shadows more closely resembles the AC series' stealthy origins. With Assassin's Creed Mirage having delivered a taste of this in 2023, it's clear that Ubisoft is trying to strike a balance between old and new Assassin's Creed by giving the player the chance to utilize both combat styles in one game. We see evidence of this aplenty in the above trailer - and also, will Ezio's theme ever not give us chills?

Assassin's Creed Shadows setting and story

Assassin's Creed Shadows is set in Feudal Japan, more specifically, during the Azuchi-Momoyama era. The world is changing and the Unification of Japan has begun, causing conflict and war as a new era approaches. During Assassin's Creed Shadows, you follow the stories of the shinobi Assassin Naoe, and the African samurai Yasuke.

While the complete story of the upcoming game hasn't been fully disclosed, we suspect that it will have something to do with the First Tenshō Iga War, which occurred during the period and area in which the game is set. From our preview of the game, we also learned that Naoe has a family artifact to protect.

What we do know though is that Shadow's Assassin's Creed Origins-sized map has been made "more realistic" in terms of mountain scale, meaning we will be exploring a rich historical fantasy that is built to feel weighty and true to life. That also goes for the physics-based grappling hook sported by Naoe, which is sure to give her a leg-up when it comes to traversal. Think of AC Syndicate's Evie, only better.

The franchise has explored no fewer than 10 different locations around the world since the series made its debut 15 years ago, but it has never ventured into Japan – until now that is. Marc-Alexis Cote originally said that Assassin's Creed Shadow's historically-steeped context will "let players explore one of their most-awaited settings ever," giving us the chance to "live a very powerful Shinobi fantasy."

Assassin's Creed Shadows characters

Assassin's Creed Shadows will feature two playable characters in the form of Yasuke, the first-ever Black samurai, and a ninja-like female Shinobi named Naoe. It looks like you'll be given a choice between characters before a lot of main missions, and your favored playstyle will largely dictate your favorite character.

Yasuke will be the heavy-hitter as a samurai, while Naoe is our more classic AC-style assassin, given her quiet and stealthy ninja ways. Ubisoft has described Naoe as a "farmer warrior," taking on "the role of protector" in the game as she fights to defend her province of Iga. Her storyline looks set to revolve around political upheaval, invasion, and the fight for survival against insurmountable odds.

Yasuke, on the other hand, is of the Oda clan, led by prolific Japanese unification figurehead Oda Nobunaga. Having impressed Oda with his large stature, welcoming of Japanese culture, and strong sword-arm, Yasuke is widely considered the first-ever Black samurai in Japanese history.

Assassin's Creed Shadows gameplay

You'll get to play as both Yasuke and Naoe and experience a new direction of AC gameplay as you switch between the two. Both characters have unique playstyles, and when combined, you get to experience both heavy attack-style combat opportunities through Yasuke's samurai gameplay and more stealth-centric sneaky work when operating as Naoe. Similar to how things worked in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, you'll get to swap between the characters to explore the world and engage in missions.

The extended gameplay reveal shown at Ubisoft Forward 2024 (which you can watch for yourself above) gives us a closer look at the dynamically different ways Yasuke and Naoe move and engage in combat. Yasuke is melee-focused, delivering slow, heavy attacks with his studded baseball bat-like kanabo (the weapon of the Oni in Japanese folklore) and rapid-fire hits with his katana. Naoe, on the other hand, is more acrobatic and operates in the shadows, equipped with a retractable Hidden Blade on her wrist and a grappling hook. She can also go prone and crawl (a first for the series), making her one of the most stealthy protagonists in any Assassin's Creed game yet.

Your choice of character will also influence the world around you, according to a blog post by director Charles Benoit, who revealed that the core mechanics of both protagonists are the same, but some enemies will be more aggressive towards Naoe and fearful of Yasuke.

Speaking on relationships and attitudes towards the main characters, romance is also reportedly in Assassin's Creed Shadows. As Naoe and Yaskue, we'll be able to recruit others who we can bond with and connect with either as friends or romantically. It sounds like it'll be quite similar in the romance department to Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which lets us meet several potential paramours. And, if you were overwhelmed by all the options available, don't worry a "canon mode" has also been confirmed.

Other new features in the upcoming game include changes to the map, the ability to dispatch scouts, a customizable home base called the Hideout, and a dynamic weather system that can affect your missions. With the ability to use lighting to our advantage, different weather conditions will also present us with opportunities we can take advantage of - such as rain covering the sound of your footsteps, letting you sneak more efficiently.

Assassin's Creed Shadows will also be the first game to utilize the Animus Hub, which will change how we launch and play all upcoming Assassin's Creed games in the future as well. Exciting stuff!

Assassin's Creed Shadows pre-orders

Assassin's Creed Shadows pre-orders are live but only for certain copies. You can now pre-order the Assassin's Creed Shadows Limited Edition on Amazon for both PS5 and Xbox Series X. The Limited Edition costs $69.99/ £56.99, and a pre-order includes a bonus quest called 'Thrown to the Dogs'.

You can also pre-order the Assassin’s Creed Shadows Collector’s Edition for $229.99/£199.99. The price tag may seem pretty hefty, but there's a lot included in this edition. Along with the base game, you will get the Sekiryu Dual Pack (gear and weapon sets for both Naoe and Yasuke), the Sekiryu Hideout Pack (four unique ornaments to customize the hideout for your shinobi league), and five mastery points.

Along with these digital add-ons, the Collector's Edition also comes with a Naoe and Yasuke dual character statue, a unique Steelbook case, a collector's art book, a life-sized Naoe's katana tsuba, the world map, a Creed wall scroll, and two Sumi-e lithographs.

If you are looking to pre-order just the base game, unfortunately, that isn't live just yet, so the pricey bundles above are your best course of action currently. We'll keep you posted as more editions are announced and as soon as more pre-order links are live.

For more new releases, check out our guide on all the upcoming PS5 games and upcoming Xbox Series X games.

Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe was unveiled in September 2022 alongside Assassin's Creed Shadows (then known by its codename, Red), and the mobile-first, Chinese-set Assassin's Creed Jade. A witchy teaser trailer pointed players towards the witch trials of central Europe in the early 17th century, but we've heard next to nothing about Hexe since then. Described as a "very different type of Assassin's Creed game," by Ubisoft's Marc-Alexis Cote, it's been crickets for Hexe for over two years, with no further developer announcements, and only a handful of unconfirmed reports about the game making their way to us.

That changes today, however, with confirmation that Assassin's Creed Hexe will likely be the next game to be added to The Animus Hub, a launcher for all 'Period 2' Assassin's Creed games - those from Origins and beyond, in other words - as well as future games. In a presentation attended by GamesRadar+, longstanding Ubisoft producer Andrée-Anne Boisvert said that Ubisoft "will also be integrating The Animus Hub in its constantly evolving form into all our future titles going forward. These could include, of course, upcoming flagship titles like the previously announced Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe, upcoming multiplayer titles like Assassin's Creed: Codename Invictus, and new additions and new titles that have not been officially announced yet."

It's a pretty slim update, but it's the only thing we've heard about the next iteration in one of gaming's biggest franchise in years. It's also nice, if unsurprising, to know that even as Ubisoft itself navigates some pretty tricky waters, it's still got big plans for Assassin's Creed.

The timeline's getting a bit weird, so here's our list of all the upcoming Assassin's Creed games.

In a presentation ahead of today's big Assassin's Creed Shadows preview, Andrée-Anne Boisvert, a long-standing producer on the Assassin's Creed series, introduced The Animus Hub by saying "we're building a new home for Assassin's Creed moving forward, a place that will allow us to see our beloved franchise through an entirely new lens."

Boisvert explains that The Animus Hub is the project that you may have heard of under the name Assassin's Creed Infinity, which was first hinted at and then confirmed by Ubisoft in 2021. At the time, the project was thought to be a live-service entry in the series, and it wasn't until June 2024 that Ubisoft confirmed the new name and hinted that it might serve as a launcher for Assassin's Creed Shadows.

It's clear that Ubisoft doesn't want The Animus Hub to be thought of as just another launcher, however. Boisvert explains that "my nightmare was to suffer from another level of what we call  'launcher-ception'" - presumably the idea that you'd boot Assassin's Creed Shadows through a platform like Steam, only to then have to actually launch the game with another button press once the Hub had opened. She claims that "the Animus Hub is not a standalone launcher." Instead, "it's directly embedded within the Shadows executable," and should feel like a "seamless experience" because "if we couldn't get you directly into your game fast, then we consider it a failure."

Those specific games will be games from 'period 2' of the Assassin's Creed franchise - Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla, Mirage, and Shadows - and beyond. Boisvert explains that "we will also be integrating the Animus Hub in its constantly evolving form into all of our future titles," namedropping Assassin's Creed Hexe and multiplayer project Assassin's Creed Invictus, as well as "new additions and new titles that haven't been announced yet."

As for what the Hub actually does, Boisvert offers a helpful rundown of its four key features; 'Memories' will allow you to launch your games; 'Projects' are missions that appear throughout the world in Shadows, which you can complete to earn new rewards; those rewards include keys that can be redeemed in The Exchange for new gear; and finally, The Vault allows you to unlock more of the evolving modern-day Assassin's Creed storyline.

The Animus Hub will be available on all platforms, and while Ubisoft doubled-down on the idea that it "is not a standalone launcher" in a follow-up statement from an unnamed spokesperson, that's basically what this is. There are a few extra bells and whistles attached, so I suppose that you might instead deem The Animus Hub similar to Blizzard's Battle.Net, the League of Legends client, or Call of Duty's HQ - all of those allow you to boot up the games themselves, but are also home to stores, reward systems, blogs, various lore drops, and whatever else players and devs might want to include. The Animus Hub isn't just a launcher, but despite what Ubisoft says, it is still a launcher, just with a few extra bits included.

If you want to know some of what you'll find in the Hub, keep an eye on our list of upcoming Assassin's Creed games.

GamesRadar+ recently had the chance to go hands-on Assassin's Creed Shadows, and in an interview with creative director Jonathan Dumont, we're told that the devs "were surprised by a few things" when they visited Japan for the game. "When you go on location, there's always something that even if you looked at all the books, the movies, everything, you say 'oh man, that's surprising,'" he explains. "It was the density of the trees and the forest and how much there was. You had a lot of little mountains that created overlapping views that typically we didn't quite get."

"And the scale of castles and things like that. Castles are big, you know, the castle fortresses – holy crap, when you go there, it's like 'I didn't expect that,'" he continues. "So we had to adjust to sort of wrap our mind around, well, we needed much more fidelity on the scale."

Elaborating on this, Dumont says that "it's not a one-for-one scale," but about "having that impression that that large castle exists within an ecosystem." As such, he says: "The travel time is a little different – it's not a point of interest [followed immediately by another] point of interest, [every] 50 meters. There's more open, natural landscaping that will be a little bit longer to travel, but when you get to a place there's a lot more to it. The scale ratio changed from Odyssey, and what we had done before, and then just the fidelity of trying to make incredible attention to detail in the environment, so that we craft the crap out of it."

But how long can we expect to spend exploring the open-world Japanese setting? That remains to be seen, but it sounds like the main story could be anywhere between 30 and 60 hours long as Dumont previously said he thought that "Shadows' main journey is comparable to Origins/Odyssey and Valhalla." With that in mind, it sounds like we're going to be rather busy come March 20.

Be sure to check out our Assassin's Creed Shadows hands-on preview for our latest thoughts on Ubisoft's upcoming game.

"We didn't want to hold the player's hand too much with icons and markers," game director Charles Benoit explains in a new blog post. "We wanted to craft an open world where information was key and would become a form of reward. This made sense in the context of playing a shinobi and fighting for information. In Shadows, information is something you need to look for and earn, whether through your spies, NPC encounters, or through your own eyes. In short, we want players to discover all our cool secrets on their own terms through investigation, their spy network, or by observing the world."

In previous Assassin's Creed games, you'd unlock giant sections of the world map and details on all nearby activities by climbing and synchronizing viewpoints. As Ubisoft has previously confirmed, viewpoints now serve as a more narrow place to gather information and discover nearby points of interest. The world map will also slowly fill in around you as you explore, pushing back the fog of war effect and popping up question marks indicating nearby points of interest.

Throughout the game, you'll build a crew of scouts that you can deploy to explore bits of the world map for you. As in other recent Assassin's Creed games, some quests will initially provide you with a vague list of information about your target, but scouts can narrow that down to a precise quest marker. More scouts deployed to the same location will give you a wider search area, revealing more of the world map for you.

None of this is truly groundbreaking stuff for an open-world game, but it does sound like it'll combine to make you more of an active participant in exploring the world this time around - a feeling recent Assassin's Creed games have often struggled to nail down. Ubisoft is certainly putting a big focus on making Shadows more challenging and engaging, as another recent blog detailed how unclimable surfaces were leading a "more thoughtful" approach to parkour.

The series has often ranked among the best open-world games, so here's hoping some of the upcoming Assassin's Creed games can recapture the magic.

Microsoft started rolling out Windows 11 version 24H2 last year, and it wasn't long before players started noticing some pretty severe issues with the functionality of several Ubisoft games. Many of those issues were fixed promptly, but for whatever reason they lingered for some time on Assassin's Creed Origins and Valhalla.

Microsoft acknowledged in November that 24H2 was causing some Ubisoft games to "become unresponsive while starting, loading or during active gameplay," and now, almost two months later, Ubisoft says the issue is resolved in dual Steam updates for Assassin's Creed Origins and Valhalla.

"This patch fixes compatibility issues with Windows 11 update 24H2," reads the text in both updates.

So, yes, the good news is that you should theoretically be able to boot up Assassin's Creed Origins and Assassin's Creed Valhalla on PC and, well, play them again. The bad news, at least for Ubisoft, is that two months of unplayability caused an absolute flood of negative Steam reviews that tanked both games' ratings from 'Very Positive' down to 'Mixed.'

It's difficult to say as an outsider what Ubisoft could've done differently to address the situation before it escalated, and thus tricky to pin the blame on the studio specifically, but considering both Assassin's Creed Games were basically unplayable for a lot of folks, it's also hard to blame them for simply sharing their experiences on Steam.

Anywho, there are the best Assassin's Creed games, ranked.

In a new video collecting predictions and rumors regarding Nintendo's Switch 2 plans, Nate the Hate claims that "one title that will be there within the launch window comes from Ubisoft, and it's going to be Assassin's Creed Mirage." The mercifully compact and more stealth-focused game was originally released in 2023, and as we noted in our Assassin's Creed Mirage review, brought the series away from its mega-RPG reputation and back to its roots.

Further commenting on the Switch 2 launch lineup, Nate the Hate adds that "Assassin's Creed Shadows is one of those in-development ports, it just won't be ready for launch and probably won't be ready for the launch window. I've been told that Ubisoft is doing more than half a dozen games for the Switch 2, and a lot of them are going to be late ports. These are from a range of franchises like The Division, Rainbow Six Siege. There's also discussion and some consideration for a Mario Rabbids collection, so it'd have 1 and 2 in a single package ... I think, for Ubisoft, if they can port the game, they will port the game."

The Switch 2 is expected to bring some welcome movement and investment back to the largely stagnant console hardware market, with one analyst predicting Nintendo will run into supply issues amid a launch demand boom. With Ubisoft treading water after a few underwhelming years, and doing everything it can to shut down reports of a buyout, it wouldn't be a surprise for the publisher to pounce on the new platform as a way to wring more money out of its games. Nintendo Switch 2 will support backwards compatibility with original Switch games, but a new console launch is still prime time to bundle and repackage existing games.

Ubisoft aside, Nate the Hate says "some other third-party games I have heard [about] include Metal Gear Solid Delta," which is set to launch later this year and is currently only listed for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on creator Konami's website. "I'm hopeful that maybe it is a day-and-date release when it does come to Switch 2, because if that game, let's say, comes out in summer of 2025, there's no reason it shouldn't," Nate the Hate adds.

The somewhat confusingly named Metal Gear Solid 3 remake doesn't have an exact release date just yet, so this summer timing is more speculative. In September 2024, we learned that the game is "already playable" from start to finish and now in more of a polishing phase. At the time, production producer Noriaki Okamura said "it's not going to be years and years" before we get to play it, though he also said "we're just not yet at the stage where we can say with confidence exactly when it will be out."

One former Nintendo Switch marketing lead reckons Nintendo probably "don't like what's happening" with all these leaks, but doesn't expect this pre-reveal back-and-forth, which only matters to a small and Extremely Online portion of the console's potential audience, to affect the company's plans.

Metal Gear Solid Delta exists because Konami was starting to get worried that the “younger generation of gamers aren’t familiar with the Metal Gear series anymore.”

To make matters worse, Ubisoft faces an internal crisis. Financial woes have left the company's leadership presumably exploring buyout options, while lukewarm critical receptions to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws suggest that the developer's tried-and-true open-world formula doesn't have the same draw it once did. With Assassin's Creed Shadows' latest delay pushing it back to March 20, a once-surefire victory now feels like Ubisoft's last chance to dictate its own future. The stakes couldn't be higher – but if Shadows' delays buy room for its developer to innovate, I wouldn't write Ubisoft off just yet.

Requiescat in pace?

By 2014, I'd stopped playing Assassin's Creed as religiously as I once did. With the conclusion of Ezio's story in Assassin's Creed Revelations, along with a generally mediocre offering in Assassin's Creed 3, it felt like the series could no longer coast solely on how fun it is to be a little rooftop scamp. Change was necessary – and 2013's Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag stepped up to the occasion, with its ship-based adventuring a high point for Assassin's Creed to this day. But that innovation didn't stick, and we were once again tip-toeing over terracotta in Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Burned out, I didn't play either entry – and I wasn't the only one, with Syndicate's London adventure going on to be one of the series' worst-selling games (although I'm told it's very good).

Once again, Ubisoft was in a rut – but it didn't stay there. Enter Assassin's Creed Origins, which was given more development time to learn from the missteps of its predecessors. A vast open-world RPG, Origins ultimately paid less homage to the series' past and more to 2015 hit The Witcher 3. As industry trends heralded vaster open-world games, Ubisoft was at the forefront of that shift. Origins' dizzying size was not only novel but actively sought after by many fans, with a wealth of activities that made exploring every inch of Egypt a delight.

Meanwhile, playable areas in Ubisoft's Far Cry series became denser than ever, filled with sandbox-style activities that encouraged outpost-clearing and climbing vistas to unlock new parts of the map. The two philosophies converged into Ubisoft's now-staple open world formula: UI-heavy adventures where there are Things To Do, Always. It largely worked for Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Assassin's Creed Valhalla, although a steadily-growing voice in the fandom complained that even these games had too much to deal with.

Even today, there are still a glut of open world games that ape Ubisoft's own dense, UI-heavy maps. But over the last few years, we've started seeing players flock to games that encourage exploration for the sake of discovery. And while RPGs like Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3 have pushed that boat out even further, Ubisoft has lagged behind despite slight improvements. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora made fantastic strides toward making collectible resources less intrusive – I loved having to hunt down herbs by biome and needing to pluck them carefully – but in a lot of areas, it was Far Cry by numbers. Star Wars Outlaws, while still similar in parts, fostered a far more natural environment for side quests. Your next score was more likely to be found eavesdropping in a bustling canteen, rather than an icon on the minimap.

Unfortunately, Assassins Creed Shadows doesn't have the luxury of continuing with these gradual iterations. For Shadows to be the showstopper Ubisoft desperately needs, we need to see the same revitalizing breath of fresh air that Black Flag and Origins brought. Feudal Japan needs to make us feel, not do. Achieve that, and the endless busybodying will come naturally. The good news is that, since Shadows was pushed out of 2024 shortly after Outlaws' lukewarm reception, I think Ubisoft is making a sincere effort to do just that. Just look at the parkour systems revealed this week – Shadows' movement looks more fluid than anything the series has put out before, while unclimbable surfaces and more in-depth stealth mechanics (prone sickos rejoice) suggest we'll have to put much more thought into how we engage with the world.

Likewise, its dual protagonists seem like they'll offer two very different experiences. Shinobi Naoe will scratch an itch for the series' traditional stealth playstyle, while samurai Yasuke will be able to handle the louder combat-heavy encounters we've seen more of since Origins. But it's also worth remembering that Assassin's Creed fans have been begging for this setting for over a decade, and Shadows mere existence will be wish fulfillment for many. The stakes are high, yes, but it would be silly to pretend there isn't already so much going well for Shadows. Time and time again, Ubisoft has proven it can deliver when it counts – and if these last two delays have bought the developer time to step up to bat, I wouldn't rule out a home run just yet.

See where Assassin's Creed Shadows sits in our Big in 2025 roundup of this year's 50 most anticipated games

"We are all behind our teams' efforts to create the most ambitious Assassin's Creed opus of the franchise," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot explained in a press release, "and made the decision to provide an extra month of development to Shadows in order to better incorporate the player feedback gathered over the past three months that will enable us to fully deliver on the potential of the game and finish the year on a strong note."

Shadows had previously been set to launch on February 14. Before that, it was scheduled to be released on November 15, 2024, but was delayed two months ahead of that launch in response to "learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release." Ubisoft has described the sales of Star Wars Outlaws as "softer than expected" and had additional financial trouble in 2024 with the shutdown of XDefiant.

Additionally, Ubisoft today announced that it "has appointed leading advisors to review and pursue various transformational strategic and capitalistic options to extract the best value for stakeholders." In other words, the company is reviewing potential options to let itself be bought out. Rumors that Ubisoft might be acquired have persisted for years, but those buyout rumors intensified toward the end of 2024.

These are all the upcoming Ubisoft games currently in the pipe.

Shadows will feature some number of "unclimbable surfaces" without physical handholds to grab onto. "This is a pretty big deal for us," according to associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois in a new blog post. "This means we had to be more thoughtful about creating interesting parkour highways and afforded us more control about where Naoe can go, and where Yasuke can’t, making our two playstyles even more contrasted."

Ubisoft adds that "most of what you’ll see in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is still very much climbable," but some areas will require a bit more "creativity" to get into. That's welcome news to me, at least - the tendency of recent Assassin's Creeds to just let you hold a button to clamber over everything has tended to make the open worlds feel a bit flat.

It might not seem like a big change at first blush, but the blog also highlights how Ubisoft has swapped the crouch and dodge buttons as part of an effort to merge the dodge into the broader parkour system. "There are two main ways to parkour down," Lemay-Comtois explains. "The classic way is to press the dodge / parkour down button near a ledge without directional input: your character will climb down and hold that ledge in climbing position. The second - and flashier way - is to perform a directional dodge over that ledge, which launches a variety of acrobatic transitions."

It certainly sounds like Ubisoft is building a smart overhaul of the parkour mechanics the series is known for, but we'll see how it all plays in practice when Assassin's Creed Shadows launches on February 14.

Here are all the upcoming Assassin's Creed games you need to know about.

On November 22 last year, Microsoft confirmed that a handful of Ubisoft games were prone to "become unresponsive while starting, loading or during active gameplay" due to the effects of 24H2. Updates to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws quickly fixed the issues in those games, but the slightly older Assassin's Creed titles are still suffering.

Currently, Windows 11 will not download the 24H2 update if you have any affected game installed, so if you've been slowly trekking through Origins since before the rollout, you'll still be okay. But if you've recently purchased a title like Origins - which just happened to go down to $5.99 as part of the recent Steam Winter Sale - you'll likely already have 24H2 installed and might be in for a very bad time.

Origins holds a "very positive" Steam rating overall with 85% positive reviews, but within the last 30 days those reviews have dropped to a "mixed" 61% rating. While a handful of the negative reviews focus on the content of the game itself - or general complaints about Ubisoft as a whole - the vast majority are pointed at the 24H2 update and the crashes that have come as a result.

In a post pinned to the game's Steam forum, a dev says that "Ubisoft and Microsoft are working on a resolution and will provide more information when it is available." Oddly, while this same message is pinned in the forums for Odyssey and Valhalla, too, it's only Origins that's getting the negative review treatment. Perhaps everybody who picked up some Assassin's Creed in the Steam sale was just trying to make their start with Origins.

Anecdotally, I was able to fire up Origins on my PC with 24H2 installed, and didn't have any issues - but that's with just a few minutes of testing. Your mileage may vary here, but here's hoping Ubisoft and Microsoft get this fixed for all affected players sooner rather than later.

There are a load of upcoming Assassin's Creed games on the way, and Assassin's Creed Shadows is coming in very soon.

OK, that might be an exaggeration, but Naruto-running around feudal Japan does sound pretty frikkin' cool. Assassin's Creed Shadows creative director Jonathan Dumont revealed this sweet little detail in a new interview with EW.

For the uninitiated, Dumont is referring to the classic anime Naruto, whose titular hero is often seen running at full-sprint, leaning forward and with his arms facing backward.

Assassin's Creed Shadows has two protagonists who the player can switch between at any time. Yasuke is a big ol' muscly samurai who uses brute force to get past foes, while Naoe is a nimble shinobi who prefers a more stealthy approach to avoid confrontation. Naturally, it's Naoe that can do the Naruto run.

Dumont also said Naoe is "the fastest assassin" the Assassin's Creed franchise has ever seen, which should be fun when jumping across rooftops. And speaking of which, Dumont teased "a run on top of buildings that has a little bit of a wink-wink to it," seemingly referring to another reference to a different series. Mirror's Edge maybe?

Here are all of the upcoming Assassin's Creed games in development.

In an Ask-Me-Anything thread on Reddit, Ubisoft developer Johnathan responded to a query on Assassin's Creed Mirage protagonist Basim's potential relevance in Shadows. Spoiler alert: as revealed in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Basim is also the reincarnation of Norse god of trickery Loki, which in turn makes him a central figure in both the modern and historical Assassin's Creed timelines. His prominence over the last two mainline games begs the question: will we see more of Basim/Loki in Shadows?

"I’ll try answering this one without spoiling anything," Johnathan replied in the thread. "Shadows will lay the groundwork for a new chapter of Modern narrative that will be different than what we have done in the past, but that is connected to our modern day lore and will develop over time in the Animus Hub and subsequent titles. The franchise team will have more on this soon."

This "new chapter" in the modern timeline, paired with earlier comments in the Reddit post where Basim's presence in Shadows is again dispelled, infers that we will be getting acquainted with potentially new modern day faces in the upcoming Ubisoft game. Say bye bye to Layla and Loki for now, then

The next part of user ItZ_wArLoRzZ's question relates to the established "Japanese lore from the Transmedia & Side Games" – mobile card game Assassin's Creed: Memories and the Assassin’s Creed Blade of Shao Jun manga, specifically – and whether it will be honored in Shadows. In response, Johnathan simply hints that "we’ve had to retool some of the AC Memories lore" to accommodate some of Shadows' narrative.

These changes could be miniscule for all we know, especially if you don't engage with every offshoot branch of Assassin's Creed. But if "retooling" the lore of the card game has knock-on effects to the canon timeline, it could be a fun spot for series diehards in search of a new challenge come Shadows' February 14 release date.

For more on Naoe and Yasuke's upcoming adventure, read our Assassin's Creed Shadows hands-on preview

During an 'ask me anything' session on Reddit yesterday, the Assassin's Creed Shadows team was asked how the focus of development on the game has shifted since the decision was made to move its launch to next year. Based on Dumont's reply, it sounds like there's been a solid mix of bug-squashing and fine-tuning to gameplay mechanics to make sure they're the best they can be. 

Comment from r/assassinscreed

"The delay has helped focus on polish, debug and balancing," Dumont says. "It honestly has been great to be able to tweak the game and push the overall quality. We've been able to make changes and tweaks on parkour for example, or touch up parry mechanics or work on cinematic transitions. For example, we felt there was a stickiness in the parkour, the delay allowed us to accelerate the responsiveness of inputs and fix rooftop behaviors that were impeding on Naoe's fluidity. The team is making something we are all proud of with this extra time."

With all that in mind, it definitely sounds like Shadows will be better off for its delay. Awkward-feeling parkour wouldn't have gone down well, so it's a relief that it's apparently been ironed out ahead of the game's updated February 14 release.

This same Reddit AMA has revealed loads of interesting tidbits of information about Shadows, including the inclusion of a 'canon mode,' which sounds perfect for anyone particularly indecisive as it makes all the choices for you. It's also been claimed that the length of the main story is "comparable to Origins/Odyssey and Valhalla," which suggests it could be anywhere between 30 and 60 hours long, so you might want to prepare yourself for a lengthy adventure.

Assassin's Creed Shadows romance borrows the best part of Odyssey letting us choose "lovers, either for a short, sweet time or longer term."

"As for choices, they are present, and some have an impact but play less of a branching role than on Odyssey on the core narrative," creative director Jonathon Dumont says in a Reddit AMA. "Choices come more into play when recruiting allies and romance some of the characters. Since the fan base is divided on branching dialogues, we have incorporated an option called CANON MODE which allows you to play the game with choices already made for you, to give you a choice free experience. Hope this makes it fun for everyone."

The series previously gestured at the idea of a canon mode in Assassin's Creed Valhalla by allowing you to "let the Animus choose" protagonist Eivor's gender at the start of the game. This option presented Eivor canonically as a woman, though because of meta-story shenanigans it also allowed you to play a male version of the character at a few points throughout.

The tension between the needs of the franchise's overarching narrative and the open-ended choices the recent games have given players who want more freedom came to a head in 2019 with the DLC for Assassin's Creed Odyssey. While the game allowed you to choose who you wanted to romance throughout, leaving players free to make the protagonist gay, straight, or bisexual, the DLC story initially locked you into a heterosexual romance to kick off a bloodline important to the series' overall narrative. Here's hoping that the introduction of this canon mode for Shadows can offer the best of both worlds for players who want freedom and those who want storyline consistency.

Assassin's Creed Shadows' main story could apparently be between 30 and 60 hours long as dev says it's "comparable to Origins/Odyssey and Valhalla."

During today's Assassin's Creed Shadows Reddit AMA with developers, associate narrative director Brooke Davies revealed that "choices take on many forms" in the upcoming stabathon, impacting who we play as and the outcomes for several quests. 

"In terms of the story of our league, we get to explore core themes like community and chosen family through choices since Naoe and Yasuke can choose who to recruit as allies and who to connect with as friends and lovers, either for a short, sweet time or longer term," Davies continued. 

In that sense, Shadows seems to be expanding on Odyssey's thirstiness. Not only can you seduce potential partners, but you can also seemingly commit to them. (Kassandra would never, though I guess Naoe and Yasuke are cut from a different, probably less horny, cloth.)

Recruitable companions would make sense in a game like Valhalla, where players were constantly returning to their home village, or Odyssey, which had a massive ship serving as a homebase, but Ubisoft have yet to properly reveal a similar hub for Shadow's duo. A sim-like base-building feature was leaked a few weeks ago, however, so maybe that's where our friends and/or lovers will hole up. We'll see how it all shakes out when Assassin's Creed Shadows comes out on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS5 on February 14. 

Assassin’s Creed Shadows could be between 30 and 60 hours long as the developers reveal it’s “comparable to Origins/Odyssey and Valhalla.” 

This came up in a new 'ask me anything' session hosted by a handful of Assassin's Creed Shadows developers on Reddit, who were asked how long the game is compared to Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. Slightly confusingly, it's apparently comparable to all three. 

"The length of the game is always hard to evaluate in an open world game as different players will have very different ways to consume the content," creative director Jonathan Dumont replies. "I think Shadows' main journey is comparable to Origins/Odyssey and Valhalla."

Comment from r/assassinscreed

It's a slightly bizarre thing to say since according to HowLongToBeat, an average main story run of Origins will take you around 30 hours, while Odyssey comes in nearer 45 hours, and Valhalla at 61 hours (don't get me started on the completionist times). With that in mind, we've seemingly been given a 30-60 hour main story scale for Shadows. Obviously, as has been acknowledged in Dumont's reply, players' completion times will always vary depending on how thorough they are exploring the world, but he's supposedly referring to the general campaign here. 

Earlier this year, art director Thierry Dansereau told Play magazine that Shadows would be "about Origins big," which suggested that we can expect it to fall closer to that 30-hour mark. To many, I'm sure this would be welcome – the sheer size of Valhalla, while certainly a boon for those who love it, was criticized for being too long by many. You can definitely have too much of a good thing, after all. Then again, with us having to wait a bit longer than expected for Shadows, maybe fans will welcome a bit more content to get stuck into. 

Assassin's Creed Shadows' "core fight mechanics are the same" for both protagonists, but some enemies will be "more aggressive towards Naoe" and "fearful of Yasuke."

Shadows is bringing back a dual-protagonist approach, but instead of having male and female options at the beginning of the game, you're instead switching between the sturdier Yasuke and the stealthier Naoe who both share "core fight mechanics," according to director Charles Benoit's explanation in Ubisoft's most recent blog post.

"In essence, our core fight mechanics are the same for Yasuke and Naoe," Benoit says, referring to how both characters have quicker light attacks, stronger heavy attacks, charged-up 'posture attacks' and access to defensive manoeuvres - "but as samurai and shinobi, respectively, they each have their own weapon types and abilities that make them feel very different from one another."

While Yasuke can strike with massive katanas and rifles, Naoe prefers subtler options like the classic hidden blade or a ball-and-chain option for crowd control. But the differences between the two characters also shine through in more subtle ways.

For instance, Yasuke's towering size means he can simply hide behind one of his weapons and straight-up block some incoming attacks, meanwhile, Naoe can only deflect her enemies' strikes with a last-minute move. She more than makes up for the lack of defensive capabilities with a more efficient dodge-roll, though, while Yasuke might need a second to recover from his side-step. "These subtle differences in attack and defense are really what makes the control of each character unique - and adaptable to your ideal playstyle," Benoit continues.

What most stood out to me in the combat deep dive was the fact that enemies will, in fact, treat each character differently. While delving into Ashigaru Soldiers - the conscripts who make up the bulk of any armies' fighting force - the blog explains that "they tend to be more aggressive towards Naoe, and are fearful of Yasuke." Whether that's due to Naoe's smaller stature or her gender isn't exactly clear, but I love that there's a little bit of world-building tucked away in the combat. It'll probably also encourage us to stay unseen while playing as the stealthy hero.

Either way, whether you like the sound of Yasuke's punchier abilities or Naoe's quieter playstyle, Assassin's Creed Shadows will let you play through most of the RPG as one character as the developers aren't interested in "strong-arming anyone" when the game launches on February 14 next year. 

Ubisoft has killed “inaccurate rumors” around Assassin’s Creed Animus Hub: rewards are “entirely free” and there won’t be any paid battles passes or subscriptions. 

Of the best Assassin's Creed games, Syndicate is one of the quirkiest and most charming – and its vibrant characters, missions, and worldbuilding make up for what is admittedly one of the weaker combat systems across the Ubisoft stealth series. It had something of a tough go of things when the game launched in 2015, with a critical eye already being cast on Ubisoft following the painfully buggy Assassin's Creed Unity released the year before. I feel that fact, alongside the constant dragon-chasing factor in the wake of how brilliant Black Flag was, caused many to come down harder on the Fryes than perhaps necessary. But now that the game has received a framerate-boosting update on PS5, PS5 Pro, and Xbox Series X, as hinted on Twitter back in September, this is your sign to take advantage of Assassin's Creed Syndicate's pre-Black Friday sale and fall in love with the twins' saga for the very first time – or, if you're like me, all over again.

Two for one

If one thing gets you to try out Syndicate, let it be the fact that it helped set the course for the next big Creed RPG way back in 2015. That's because before Assassin's Creed Shadows was a twinkle in Ubisoft Quebec's collective eye, Syndicate marked the first time players got to experience dual protagonists in an AC game. 

Fellow Frye enthusiast Heather Wald highlights how she hopes the dynamism of swapping between characters is as fun and integral to Shadows' gameplay as it is to Syndicate's – a sentiment I echo, too. From the joint player-controlled protagonists to the return of a grappling hook-like traversal system, these shared stylistic traits mark both games as identifiable products of Ubisoft Quebec. For that reason, Syndicate feels to me like a mandatory experience in the leadup to the upcoming Assassin's Creed game, showcasing the origins of Ubi Quebec's interest in character-swapping and the implications of doing so on an ever-evolving, overlapping narrative.

Zeroing in on Syndicate specifically, I love stalking the streets of Victorian London as both twins intermittently, getting to know their distinct personalities, strengths, and weaknesses over the course of the game. While I find the impetuous Jacob and his quick-witted charisma far more entertaining than his serious, borderline killjoy of a sister, Evie is my go-to for pretty much all missions – especially ones where I need to be stealthy. The developer did an excellent job at scripting their relationship, the twin's unique characteristics playing off each other and making each of them likeable and important to the narrative in equal measure. 

Pair that with some top-class voice acting, and you can't help but be instantly hooked by their journey. Would I have preferred Evie's storyline to pass the Bechdel test and revolve less heavily around a man? Sure, but I also appreciate how her romance with Henry Green proves an interesting parallel to Jacob's budding…something with one of the game's most enigmatic, definitely queer coded villains. But a dissection of Jacob Frye's implied bisexuality is a topic for another day. You'll just have to trust me that Jacob and Evie Frye are a lot more than two wannabe gang leaders; they're fully-formed individuals with goals, complexities, and flaws that had me yearning for a Syndicate sequel before I even rolled credits.

London's churning

The final reason you absolutely need to give Syndicate a shot as a matter of urgency? Why, you'll have the whole of Victorian London at your feet. I ranked it (potentially provocatively) high on my list of best Assassin's Creed maps ranked by aesthetic, because I'm a sucker for a city-based Creed moreso than I am ones set in arid deserts or entire countries – sorry, Assassin's Creed Valhalla. 

Syndicate is the perfect historical fantasy, a reimagining of 1800s London that feels both incredibly realistic in its shades of dreary grey and playfully unserious. You can swing by Buckingham Palace to pick up a mission from Her Majesty Queen Victoria before going ghost hunting with Charles Dickens, scaling Big Ben, and causing a riot at Bedlam all within a couple of hours. In contrast, the must-play Jack the Ripper DLC doubles down on the atmospheric nature of Victorian London by removing the comedy entirely. A veil of dread, grief, and impending doom has been cast over the city, reflected not only in the DLC's musical score but the more serious missions an older Evie Frye embarks upon a mission to save her brother and unmask the infamous serial killer stalking the streets of Whitechapel. 

Even after 100% completion, I still find so much to marvel at in Assassin's Creed Syndicate. It's one of the few games I refuse to delete from my overstuffed Xbox, frequently returning to it simply to walk about and soak in the ambience– and every time I visit real-life London, the itch to play Syndicate grips me almost instantly. It might be an acquired taste for some, but here's hoping that my words have been enough to convince you to give the black sheep of Assassin's Creed a fighting chance – especially now that Syndicate sports a buttery 60 frames-per-second to take some of the clunk out of those combat encounters.

Check out the host of upcoming Ubisoft games to watch out for, from Assassin's Creed to Anno.

"Hello everyone. It has come to our attention that inaccurate rumors have been circulating online regarding the upcoming Animus Hub (ex-codename Infinity). We wanted to take this occasion to clarify that:

"1. All the rewards available in the Animus Hub will be entirely free.

"2. There are no paid subscriptions or paid battle pass featured in the Animus Hub.

"3. Players will have access to regular content & missions at no extra cost.

"We will unveil more details about it closer to the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Thank you!"

Original story:

Ubisoft has reportedly taken swift action against a new Assassin's Creed Shadows leak that claimed to reveal details about a battle pass full of cosmetics for the upcoming stealth game. 

A Reddit post on the r/GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit initially shared links to a plethora of images of different outfits, assets, and weapons, as well as the cosmetics apparently included in the battle pass, and a first look at the Animus Hub. However, at the time of writing, all but two of these images have disappeared, and the Reddit user who shared them says: "Ubisoft being Ubisoft, have issued a DMCA takedown."

The user's content descriptions still give a pretty good idea of what was shown, though, including some interesting tidbits about the Animus Hub. Originally codenamed Infinity, the Animus Hub will be a place to launch future games from – including Assassin's Creed Shadows, which it's expected to release alongside. Based on what's now apparently been leaked, though, it sounds like the hub will also serve as a place to unlock new game content, using currency that can be earned through the battle pass and simply by playing. 

The Reddit user refers to the battle pass as "Season 1," implying it'll be the first of multiple. It's claimed that this first season is called "Eye in the Dark," which will include 20 tiers of rewards, all of which will be free. Ubisoft previously announced that the Season Pass for Shadows has been canceled, so it's unclear if any of these supposed battle pass rewards have simply been moved over from that – the developer already said that the exclusive season pass quest will be available to everyone on release day, though. 

Bizarrely, it's also been claimed that there will be "partnerships in-game with Red Bull, VISA, Intel and BAPE Clothing and Sprecher." No indication has been given of what these partnerships could look like, and I frankly have no idea how they could fit in – this is definitely the strangest part of the entire post. 

As with any leak, do take the information with a pinch of salt for now, although if it's true that Ubisoft was quick to issue takedown requests against so much of it, it certainly implies that what was shared was legitimate. We still have quite a wait before Assassin's Creed Shadows is upon us – it was actually supposed to launch today before it got delayed, pushing it back to February 14 next year. 

Assassin's Creed Shadows aims to "restore the balance" between the series' historical and modern stories.

As Eurogamer reports, Ubisoft's vice president executive producer for the Assassin's Creed series, Marc-Alexis Coté, spoke at BAFTA event last week, where he admitted that the "modern day story arc" which focused on Desmond Miles ultimately led to "a creative crossroad" at the end of Assassin's Creed 3. Without spoiling anything, he says that deciding to end Desmond's arc was "difficult," and after that, "the modern storyline struggled to find its footing."

Coté explains that the "continued focus on characters hunting for Isu artifacts" – which had previously been driven by Desmond's own journey – "made the narrative more predictable," and ended up reducing "the conflict between Templars and Assassins" in favor of controlling "magical relics." He continues: "This shift pulled focus away from what had always been at the heart of the franchise: exploring our history."

This isn't a shift that went down well with everyone, as Coté acknowledges that the approach "became repetitive," with the modern-day storyline feeling like "a secondary concern" rather than "an integral part" of the narrative. With all this in mind, Ubisoft has a plan for the future of the franchise that'll begin with the upcoming feudal Japan adventure, Assassin's Creed Shadows. 

"As we move forward, our goal is to put history back at the center of the players' experience," Coté begins. The modern-day narrative will, of course, still exist, but it'll "serve to enhance, rather than overshadow, the historical journey," and Ubisoft aims "to restore the balance that was once the hallmark of the franchise" by drawing "meaningful contrast between past and present."

Clearly, Shadows is just the start of this, as Coté says: "The groundwork for this new direction will take shape with Assassin's Creed Shadows, which will lay the foundation for this narrative evolution that will grow in the years to come." He's also concerned about much more than just Assassin Creed, as he goes on to talk about "Ubisoft's portfolio" in general, and the fact that it's "faced criticism in recent years for a perceived inconsistency in quality." Players expect "more polish" now, he says, as well as "more innovation and deeper engagement" from games, and Shadows may give Ubisoft an opportunity to prove itself to its fanbase once more. 

"Assassin's Creed Shadows represents our opportunity to change that narrative, not just for Assassin's Creed, but I think, for Ubisoft as a whole," Coté claims.

Although it was initially planned to release this month, Assassin's Creed Shadows has now been pushed back to February 14, which should hopefully give Ubisoft a little more time to hone the game until it can meet the high expectations it's setting. 

Ubisoft is tackling "dynamics behind the polarized comments" facing games like Assassin's Creed Shadows with a "player-centric and gameplay-first" approach.

I'm gonna need to drop a little spoiler warning if you're still working your way toward the end of 2012's Assassin's Creed 3. Still here? Good. At the end of that game, modern-day series protagonist Desmond dies, bringing a sudden end to that arc of the modern storyline. "With his death at the end of Assassin's Creed 3, we faced a creative crossroad," series executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté said in a BAFTA talk that will soon be shared to YouTube.

"Ending Desmond's arc was a difficult decision, and afterward, the modern storyline struggled to find its footing," Côté admits. "The continued focus on characters hunting for Isu artifacts made the narrative more predictable and reduced the conflict between the Templars and the Assassins to a straightforward pursuit of control over - let's be honest - magical relics.

"This shift pulled focus away from what had always been at the heart of the franchise: exploring our history. As this approach became repetitive, both players and critics felt the modern day storyline had become a secondary concern, more of a side quest, rather than an integral part of the overall experience. Furthermore, the compounded complexity of 15 years of lore built in this parallel storyline created a cognitive load that made the franchise difficult to approach for newcomers."

As the series enters what Côté calls its "third period," the team's goal is to "put history back at the center of the player's experience. The modern day narrative will serve to enhance, rather than overshadow, the historical journey by drawing meaningful contrast between past and present. We aim to restore the balance that was once the hallmark of the franchise, and help people feel this vertigo of history.

"The modern day storyline will explore deeper themes of memory, identity and autonomy, how the past shapes who we are, and how controlling this past can impact our future," Côté continues. "These themes will allow us to reflect on contemporary issues - freedom versus control, the power of knowledge and the tension between individuality and conformity - all through the lens of history. While I don't want to reveal too much, we're excited to see how this transformation unfolds. The groundwork for this new direction will take shape with Assassin's Creed Shadows, which will lay the foundation for this narrative evolution that will grow in the years to come."

Côté also shut down "attacks driven by intolerance" over the Assassin's Creed Shadows' Black samurai and woman warrior, and condemned "personal attacks" against devs.

Côté discussed the history of the Assassin's Creed franchise and the importance of Assassin's Creed Shadows during a BAFTA talk which was freely available to watch online today, November 1, and will be posted to YouTube in the near future. On Shadows specifically, to put it succinctly, Côté has seen this controversy and isn't having any of it. 

"Staying true to history means embracing the richness of human perspectives without compromise," he says near the end of his presentation. "For example, in Assassin's Creed Shadows, we highlight figures both fictional, like Naoe, a Japanese woman warrior, and historical, like Yasuke, the African-born samurai. While the inclusion of a Black samurai in feudal Japan has sparked questions and even controversy, Naoe, as a fictional character, has also faced scrutiny for her gender. 

"But just as Yasuke's presence in Japanese history is fact, so too are the stories of women who defied societal expectations and took up arms in times of conflict. So while both Naoe and Yasuke's stories are works of historical fiction, they reflect the collision of different worlds, cultures, and roles, and their inclusion is precisely the kind of narrative that Assassin's Creed seeks to tell – one that reflects the complexity and interconnectedness of our shared history." 

Throughout his talk, Côté repeatedly stresses how Assassin's Creed leverages history, and because "history is inherently diverse," so too are the games. "So to be clear, our commitment to inclusivity is grounded in historical authenticity and respect for diverse perspectives, not driven by modern agendas," he adds. 

The executive producer looks beyond this particular pocket of Assassin's Creed Shadows discourse and unto art as a whole, affirming that "legitimate criticism" remains valuable but must be distinguished from "attacks driven by intolerance." 

"The current climate is tough on our creative teams," he says. "They face lies, half-truths, and personal attacks online. When the work they've poured their hearts into is twisted into a symbol of division, it's not just disheartening, it can be devastating. What keeps me going is the resilience born out of conviction that I see in our teams every day. I am especially proud of the Shadows team for staying true to their creative vision and the core tenets of Assassin's Creed." 

His closing argument only doubles down. "When we allow fear to stifle our voices, when we self-censor in the face of threats, we hand over our power piece by piece until freedom and creativity both wither away," Côté says. "We cannot let that happen. It's time for us as creators to stand firm on our commitment to our values by telling stories that inspire, that challenge, and that help people connect. Our silence cannot become complicity." 

In his conclusion, Côté reckons that "the answer to hate is to continue creating experiences that celebrate the richness of our world and capture the magic of our collective imagination" because "in the end, creativity is stronger than fear." 

Ubisoft stealth drops nine seconds of new Assassin's Creed Shadows gameplay during Apple's latest Mac presentation.

The clip is all of nine seconds long, and shows Naoe - the stealthier of the game's two protagonists -  sprinting across a rooftop, deploying a grappling hook, and swinging over to the outer wall of a nearby fortress. It looks quite fast and fluid, which is exactly what I'm hoping for from Naoe's gameplay. You can see it all for yourself starting at the 10:06 mark in the video below. 

We've gotten plenty of looks at Assassin's Creed Shadows gameplay over the summer, but peeks have dried up since the game's delay to February. The game's early access plans have also been scrapped, so you won't be able to pay extra to get in a few days early. The February launch has Assassin's Creed Shadows entering into what might just be a full-on RPG bloodbath with one of the biggest release months for the genre we've seen in ages.

Ubisoft has made clear that there's a lot riding on Assassin's Creed Shadows, particularly after the "softer than expected" sales of Star Wars Outlaws. There are plenty of upcoming Ubisoft games on the docket, but arguably none bigger than the next entry in the Assassin's Creed series.

Ubisoft wants to restore the "creativity and innovation" that built its success in "2010 - 2020," and it's cut over 2,000 employees in 2 years to help do it.

The reveal of Assassin's Creed Shadows' feudal Japan setting and Black protagonist, Yasuke whipped certain corners of the internet into a frenzy over a perceived lack of historical accuracy and forced diversity. There was also a separate debate over whether Yasuke was actually a real-life Samurai (he was), and entirely unrelated to all of that, Ubisoft had to apologize for the unauthorized use of a flag in Shadows' concept art.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot seemed to, once again, address these controversies in the company's latest earnings report, saying:

"The Executive Committee review, aimed at improving our execution focused on a player-centric and gameplay-first approach, is progressing. This notably includes actions aimed at tackling the dynamics behind the polarized comments around Ubisoft so as to protect the Group’s reputation and maximize our game’s sales potential."

What exactly these comments mean to players, I haven't the foggiest idea, but Guillemot says in another section of the financial report that Ubisoft "must redouble our focus on execution and reinforce a player-centric mindset in everything we do," pledging to take "the additional time to ensure that the upcoming very ambitious opus in our flagship franchise, Assassin's Creed Shadows, is a highly polished, exceptional experience on day one."

This isn't the first time Guillemot has spoken out about the response to Assassin's Creed Shadows. Just last month, he said Ubisoft's "goal is not to push any specific agenda" in reference to the same "polarized comments" about the game.

Meanwhile, Assassin's Creed Shadows' art book is apparently being altered to remove an unauthorized flag from a real-life re-enactment group, despite Ubisoft's previous plans to leave it in.

The issue was first pointed out back in June by one of the members of the re-enactment group Sekigahara Teppo-tai (Sekigahara Rifle Corps), who spotted their group's flag in two pieces of concept art for Assassin's Creed Shadows. Although it was quite small in the artwork in question, it was distinctive given that it had the group's name on the front. Ubisoft Japan made a statement about it the following month, confirming that the re-enactment group had accepted an apology from the company, and that it would no longer use the artwork, with the exception of its appearances in the collector's edition art book. Better than nothing, but certainly not ideal. 

At the time, it seemed like that was the end of that, but there have now been further developments. Twitter user @matchlock_kage – the same Sekigahara Teppo-tai member who raised the issue in the first place – took to the social media site earlier this week to say (translated by Google and DeepL) that Ubisoft had been in touch to say it's now possible to remove the flag from the art book entirely. According to the user, they were sent an image that showed the flag blacked out, so it sounds like the pages themselves could be altered to remove the design. 

Curiously, this update came on the same day that Ubisoft announced changes to some of the offerings included in the collector's edition in the official Assassin's Creed Discord server. Notably, an early-access period will no longer be offered, and the Assassin's Creed Shadows Season Pass has been canceled. At least the collector's edition's expensive price tag is lowering by $50 to $230, I guess. However, the announcement also mentions that the artbook will be 76 pages long, which is eight pages less than originally advertised. This has also been reflected in an updated marketing image for the collector's edition. 

Why this number has changed isn't clear – it'd be easy to guess that the artwork featuring the Sekigahara Teppo-tai flag could have been removed entirely, therefore reducing the amount of pages, but if Ubisoft is planning to essentially censor its appearance like @matchlock_kage suggests, then you wouldn't think that'd be the case. Regardless, it sounds like one way or another, Ubisoft is trying to move past the situation entirely – perhaps the game's delay to February 14 of next year has allowed it a little more time to do so properly.

Ubisoft says Assassin's Creed Shadows is "the most ambitious entry in the franchise" and was delayed last-minute because "we really want to make sure execution is flawless."

In a post on Discord (via IGN), Ubisoft confirmed that several factors, including the Assassin's Creed Shadows delay, the cancellation of its planned Season Pass component, and the removal of the three days of early access planned as part of its original November 15 release date, caused the $280 price tag to drop to $230.

While "the content will mostly remain as initially advertised [...] some design elements may change," Ubisoft confirms. Buyers of the Collector's Edition are still set to receive the game itself, alongside multiple art pieces, collector's items, and a statue of the game's protagonists.

The Assassin's Creed Shadows delay was accompanied by the unofficial suggestion that the early access window had been removed from the Collector's Edition. While the original release date was split between November 12 for early adopters and November 15 for everyone else, the new release date seemed locked to a single day, February 14, 2025. It's taken a while for Ubisoft to confirm that would be the case, but there's now little doubt as to what day you'll be able to play Shadows.

It's been a rocky few weeks for Ubisoft. Assassin's Creed Shadows' delay was fueled in no small part by the mediocre response to Star Wars Outlaws, a failure that the company says it's learning from in its decision here. These recent fumbles, however, have sent share prices tumbling, prompting an official response to rumors that CEO Yves Guillemot was looking for buyout options. In the meantime, Ubisoft says that the delay is part of a desire to "make sure execution is flawless" on Assassin's Creed Shadows, which it's described as "the most ambitious entry in the franchise."

With Assassin's Creed Shadows pushed back to an already-full February, expect a bloodbath that might decide the future of RPGs.

Speaking with Dexerto, Salim - who stars in House of the Dragon Season 2, played Bayek in Assassin's Creed Origins, and last year released indie Metroidvania Tales of Kenzera: Zau - suggested that the process of making his own game "made me have a much deeper appreciation for developers and the work that goes into it."

However, he also suggested that that process had opened his eyes to the fact that "games are still very much treated as a business rather than necessarily as an art form." That approach, he says, is why "a lot of these big game publishers and companies are going for the games as a service model. They want to try and recreate the next Fortnite because it's going to make them more money. Games shouldn't be about that. It shouldn't be about money, it should be about expression."

Following up on those comments on Twitter, Salim said that "too much money is being spent on games people do not want." The chase for the next Fortnite, he says, means that "there are drivers in the industry who are not in touch with the medium and desire to make the next big [game as a service]."

Salim's comments certainly ring true around several high-profile live-service flops in recent years. The biggest of those was PlayStation's Concord, which was shuttered after just 14 days despite reports that the project's budget stretched well into nine figures. Elsewhere, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Redfall were both examples of live-service pivots from traditionally single-player studios that were critical and commercial failures.

Keep an eye on the horizon with our list of new games 2024.

Last week, it was reported by Bloomberg that the Guillemot brothers (Ubisoft's founders) and Chinese technology company Tencent are considering options to stabilize and boost the value of Ubisoft, and one of those options would reportedly see a team-up to take the company private. It's claimed that alternatives are being considered, too, and that the discussion is still in its early stages, but Ubisoft has now responded to the reports.

In a statement sent to VGC, a Ubisoft spokesperson acknowledges "recent press speculation regarding potential interests around the Company," and somewhat vaguely says: "It regularly reviews all its strategic options in the interest of stakeholders and will inform the market if and when appropriate." Beyond that, it's reiterated that Ubisoft's management is focused on "executing its strategy" centered around the "core verticals" of games as a service-native experiences, as well as open world adventures. 

So then, it's not a 'no,' but it's certainly not a 'yes' either. To be fair, if what the Bloomberg report says is true, it could be that the company still hasn't actually decided internally what it wants to do yet, in which case it'd be understandable not to announce anything firm.

Either way, it does seem plausible that Ubisoft would want to strengthen itself. Open world game Star Wars Outlaws released in August, and its sales were "softer than expected" for the company. On top of that, Assassin's Creed Shadows, which was supposed to release just next month, has now been pushed back to February, so that's a major release for the developer that's now left 2024 altogether. Only time will tell, but there's no doubt that any full buyout of Ubisoft would be a very big deal.

Be sure to check out our roundup of upcoming Ubisoft games to see everything the developer has in the works. 

In case you're among the lucky few to have missed it, Assassin's Creed Shadows has been through the ringer since it was announced back in May. Certain corners of the internet pounced on it for a perceived lack of historical accuracy and forced diversity. Meanwhile, its reveal sparked a heated debate over whether its Black protagonist, Yasuke, was actually a real-life Samurai (he was), and completely unrelated to all of that, Ubisoft also had to apologize for the unauthorized use of a flag in Shadows' concept art.

Ubisoft has responded strongly to the controversy, with Assassin's Creed executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté hitting back at Elon Musk for "feeding hatred" in June and CEO Yves Guillemot denouncing "hateful acts" toward its developers a couple of weeks later. In July, it defended itself against the historical accuracy complaints by reminding fans that, "while we strive for authenticity in everything we do, Assassin's Creed games are works of fiction inspired by real historical events and figures."

In a conference call and accompanying financial document published Wednesday, Guillemot struck a notably more neutral tone in addressing "an important problem of perception that has been affecting the company's performance."

"Let me address some of the polarized comments around Ubisoft lately," he said. "I want to reaffirm that we are an entertainment-first company, creating games for the broadest possible audience, and our goal is not to push any specific agenda. We remain committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy."

For full transparency, it's worth noting that Guillemot didn't explicitly link the "polarized comments" he addressed with the blowback to Assassin's Creed Shadows, but it's safe to say that's what he's referring to. It's also highly debatable whether further commenting on the issue is doing anything to diffuse the controversy around Yusuke and shift the conversation away from his ethnicity and toward the game itself in the lead-up to its recently delayed February 14, 2025 release date.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft said Assassin's Creed Shadows is "the most ambitious entry in the franchise" and was delayed last-minute because "we really want to make sure execution is flawless".

During Ubisoft's latest investor call, CFO Frederick Duguet shared some insights on the decision to delay Assassin's Creed Shadows. The game was previously scheduled to release on November 12, and according to Duguet, it is currently "feature complete" and was close enough to being finished that Ubisoft was preparing to offer preview builds to the press.

"As you might know, we were about to run previews, so very close to shipping," said Duguet. "What we see is that there is, with additional months, the possibility to really further polish the game so that the experience is really flawless and perfect to deliver the fantastic promise of the most ambitious entry in the franchise ... What we want to do is really to bring quality to the highest level possible .... We really want to make sure execution is flawless."

Duguet later said the delay cost Ubisoft "around 20 million" euros, suggesting the company had a pretty darn good reason to push the game back a few months. That said, the delay to 2025 puts Assassin's Creed Shadows in more direct competition with Sucker Punch's recently announced de facto sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, titled Ghost of Yotei, and that isn't lost on Ubisoft. In response to an investor who pointed out the two games' similarities, Duguet emphasized Assassin's Creed Shadows' "dual protagonist approach" and "different and complementary gameplay" as distinguishing factors.

Assassin's Creed fans have waited years for a game set in Japan, but Ubisoft thinks Shadows is "great timing" and part of the developer's "natural evolution".

"Ghost of Yotei, the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, looks to me – perhaps I'm not into it deeply enough – but it looks an awful lot to me like Assassin's Creed Shadows," one investor said during the call's Q&A portion. "We're talking about that game, Ghost of Yotei, coming out in 2025. Is there a risk that you start bumping into that one, that people will not buy Shadows because they're waiting for Ghost of Yotei in a few months' time to get their fix of a Japanese game in that vein?" 

"On the competition related to Assassin's Creed Shadows, the focus really is to make sure we deliver a fantastic experience with this dual protagonist approach with different and complementary gameplay, with Yasuke and Naoe, in the setting taking place in this feudal Japan, which should be really enticing," Duguet replied. "All the focus and everything that really informs our decision is to make sure that we polish the game and provide this fantastic promise."

Ghost of Yotei is still listed as a PS5 exclusive (Ghost of Tsushima only came to PC years later), while Assassin's Creed Shadows, which increasingly looks like a critical moment for Ubisoft, will be a multiplatform release, so the arena for open-world feudal Japan competition is relatively limited. 

Ubisoft is leaning into its own spin on the period, specifically the Azuchi-Momoyama period from roughly 1568 to 1600, as well as Shadows' two protagonists to stand out. Yotei, meanwhile, is set in 1603 in what's now Hokkaido, Japan, and stars new solo female Ghost Atsu . 

"I am the Ghost of Yotei" - Dragon Age: The Veilguard actor adopts the vengeful mask as Sucker Punch explains why it moved on from Tsushima's Jin Sakai.

"While the game is feature complete," Ubisoft says in a statement to investors, "the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title." The company says that the Star Wars game's "initial sales proved softer than expected," but in the wake of a number of updates in response to player feedback, it hopes that it will be "a strong long-term performer."

Additionally, Ubisoft is "departing from the traditional Season Pass model" with Assassin's Creed Shadows and will give away the game's first expansion to everyone who pre-orders. Shadows will also be released on Steam on day one, in contrast to timed exclusive launches on Ubisoft's own PC store.

"This is an ambitious addition to the franchise, a rich experience that can be lived through the eyes of two unique protagonists," the developers add in a message to fans, "but we realize we need more time to polish and refine the experience, pushing further some of our key features." All current pre-orders will be refunded.

Earlier this year, Ubisoft essentially said it was going to make good games again after a "turnaround" led by Assassin's Creed Mirage with the intent to "return to leadership in the open-world" genre. Star Wars Outlaws launched to good but unspectacular reviews, and certainly doesn't seem to have been the hit Ubisoft was hoping for. Here's hoping Assassin's Creed Shadows can set a solid standard for all the upcoming Ubisoft games to follow.

Star Wars Outlaws director is a "little disappointed" with the Metacritic score, but plans to keep improving the game.

In a new PlayStation blog entry detailing the ways in which the PS5 Pro will improve the development efforts of Sony's biggest development partners, Assassin's Creed Shadows technology director Pierre Fortin explained that Ubisoft is "working diligently to maximize the experience" on the new console.

Much of that effort focuses on the PS5 Pro's increased ray-tracing capabilities, but players will also "see improved rendering systems and an increase in the photorealism and immersion of the game" thanks to the console's more powerful GPU and the PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution technology that Sony has developed.

All that means that players exploring Feudal Japan on the new console "can expect improved environments, ambiance, and atmosphere, as well as more details, up close and at a distance." I'm particularly interested to see how big an effect the PS5 Pro has on Assassin's Creed Shadows' weather technology, which Ubisoft says is impressive enough that we should see it rear its head again many times in the future. 

That said, I doubt the PS5 Pro's $700 price tag will be a helpful factor in getting me to try out those enhanced visuals. Ubisoft is certainly playing up how good Assassin's Creed Shadows looks, but whether the new console offers enough graphical bang for its buck to get me to try Shadows out on console over PC remains to be seen. That price tag has been a substantial weight around Sony's neck since it was unveiled, and even if some devs think it's not so bad, it's still likely to be a tough sell for many.

Assassin's Creed Shadows leaks a series-first base-building system, and it sort of reminds me of The Sims.

As spotted in a now-deleted developer diary uploaded by IGN China, Shadows provides fans with an entire acre of land to customize as they please. The video, which has since been posted elsewhere, showcases this exciting new base-building feature in action. From houses to decorations to paths, the mode almost feels reminiscent of something like The Sims 4. It's a nice, creative, and relaxing slice of an otherwise action-packed pie.

Developers describe it as "a way of putting the player's adventure on full display - to be able to see how they create life as they go on their adventure." While Shadows isn't the first game to give players a base or even a settlement of sorts, it's certainly the first to offer such a highly customizable city builder or sim-like base-building system. Assassin's Creed Valhalla boasts Ravensthorpe for instance, but it can't be personalized as much.

While there's no telling just how extensive customization really is until Shadows releases this November, the leaked clip makes the game's base-building feature look promising so far. As the devs say, "It's not always about fighting" in Assassin's Creed - and the addition of a more player-focused build mode proves as much. Between the base-building system and everything else Shadows has to offer, it's shaping up to be the series' "most advanced" game yet.

Each of Assassin's Creed Shadows' four seasons features different kinds of weather, but that won't affect gameplay because Ubisoft doesn't want it to have a "negative impact"

In an interview with Play magazine, Assassin's Creed Shadows art director Thierry Dansereau explains that Ubisoft didn't want the changing of the seasons "to be something that could be perceived as very negative or have a negative impact on how you play." Instead, any changes caused by the seasons will likely be limited to the animation level.

That might mean that Yasuke and Naoe might have to clamber through snowdrifts with a somewhat awkward gate during Winter or huddle from the rain during Fall. However, you won't encounter additional gameplay challenges - like guards tracking your footprints through the snow or slipping while climbing a rain-soaked wall - that you wouldn't come across in Spring or Summer.

All of those weather systems are just a hint of what's to come, it seems, as the weather tech that Ubisoft developed for Assassin's Creed Shadows will feature "in much more depth" in future games. All that new tech is part of why we've been waiting so long for an Assassin's Creed game set in Japan - Dansereau also explained that while the setting has been long-requested, 2024 is the right time for Assassin's Creed Shadows because all that time "allowed us to really develop the new-gen features" that Ubisoft needed to "fully exploit" its version of Japan - and settle on its Origins-sized map.

How Assassin's Creed Shadows uses changing seasons and dynamic weather to be the series' "most advanced" game yet.

Speaking to Play in issue 45 of the magazine, art director Thierry Dansereau explains that taking this long for Ubisoft to get to Shadows has ultimately allowed the developers to work on its "new-gen features" first, which he reckons were "much needed" for the highly requested Japan setting. "I think it's great timing, though, because it allowed us to really develop the new-gen features, which I think were much needed for such a setting to fully exploit it," Dansereau says.

Dansereau points to Assassin's Creed's "rich history of making games" and notes that the team has built Shadows "with the Assassin's Creed pillar in mind." While it's fair to say that some fans might have hoped that the Japan setting might have arrived sooner than 2024 – 17 whole years after the release of the series' first game – Dansereau suggests that it was "part of our natural evolution to make that setting."

Play was also told that Shadows' art team has been focusing on dynamism, photorealism, and realization. The latter is reportedly described as "total attention to detail so as not to break immersion," which sounds very exciting. At this point, only time will tell if the game meets fans' lofty expectations of its setting. 

In the same magazine issue, Dansereau noted that fans can expect the upcoming RPG to be "about Origins big" – so smaller than Valhalla but larger than Mirage. No doubt this has been helped by the fact that Shadows doesn't attempt to recreate all of Japan in immense detail, but instead focus on Honshu, "where all the events related to Oda Nobunaga are taking place." Fingers crossed the final result will be a rich, detailed slice of Japan.

Assassin's Creed Shadows' gameplay will be affected by Ubisoft's fancy new weather tech, and the studio says its future games will incorporate it "in much more depth."

Speaking to Play in issue 45 of the magazine, art director Thierry Dansereau reveals that while Shadows features an explorable open world, its size will seemingly strike somewhere in the middle of the colossal Valhalla, which spanned locations in both Norway and England, and the more compact Baghdad adventure Mirage. "We're talking about Origins big," Dansereau says. 

It seems that this has largely been helped by the fact that Ubisoft hasn't recreated the entirety of Japan in the upcoming adventure. Instead, the game focuses on the location of Honshu: "This is where all the events related to Oda Nobunaga are taking place," Dansereau explains. With that in mind, here's hoping that Shadows won't end up feeling overwhelmingly large. 

There's not too much longer to wait before we can see how it all comes together, anyway, as Shadows is set to release on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 14. In a separate interview with Eurogamer, Dansereau recently said that while the team is making "creative choices" and aiming to "make the best experience possible for our players," Ubisoft has "paid a lot of attention to stay as respectful as possible to Japanese culture," and worked with studios in Osaka and Tokyo which acted as consultants for the RPG.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is bringing back double assassinations for the first time in 9 years, and there's a weird lore theory as to why.

Talking to VG247, Assassin's Creed Shadows art director Thierry Dansereau said there's a big focus on the game's skies because they "represent a major visual element that greatly contributes to the perceived visual quality and level of immersion." Dansereau added that the simulation of realistic clouds will help Ubisoft bring to life a "dynamic world that is in constant transformation."

So, what exactly is different about the way Ubisoft is designing Assassin's Creed Shadows' skies compared to earlier games in the series? Well, apparently it all comes down to that Atmos tech I mentioned at the start of this article.

"In AC Shadows, the entire weather is simulated, which means that the clouds are dynamic, and they evolve over time," explained Assassin's Creed Shadows tech lead Maxime Beaudoin. "[...] Atmos not only drives the clouds that you see in the sky, but the entire weather as well (precipitations, wind, wetness accumulation on the ground, thunder strikes, etc)."

Beaudoin said these weather effects aren't just for lookin' at - they also will have a real impact on gameplay. It's unclear to what extent, exactly, but Beaudoin said NPCs will have a tougher time detecting the player during thunderstorms because of all the noise and reduced visibility.

The Atmos tool also means artists don't have to manually create and script clouds and various weather effects; Beaudoin said they only have to "tweak a few parameters, and a cloudscape emerges automatically."

"This means that they don’t control the exact shape of the clouds like in previous games; instead, they focus on the composition, determine the overall look they want to achieve and let the simulation fill in the gaps. This makes it possible to create a very realistic looking cloudscape in a matter of minutes."

Assassin's Creed Shadows will be the first Ubisoft game to use the new weather tech, but Ubisoft assures it won't be the last. "We barely scratched the surface of what’s possible to do with it," Beaudoin said. "It's such a different way to do things that we're still learning how to use it at its best, so you can expect future titles to take advantage of it in much more depth."

Assassin's Creed Shadows launches on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on November 12.

How Assassin's Creed Shadows is using changing seasons and dynamic weather to the series' "most advanced" game yet.

As reported by Aroged, this week, Ubisoft Latam apparently posted a tweet which, when translated (via Google and DeepL), asks fans which Assassin's Creed game they've played the most times. However, it then continues, allegedly saying that perhaps Syndicate will move to first place with "the new update that brings 60fps," complete with an 'eyes' emoji which makes it feel like even more of a blatant hint.

Of course, this so-called "new update" is news to us all – up to this point, there's been no mention of Syndicate getting a 60fps patch, although it wouldn't be the first time that Ubisoft has given one of the slightly older stealth games this treatment. Odyssey and Origins were both eventually updated with 60fps support on Xbox Series X|S and PS5, for example. 

However, in the case of Syndicate, Ubisoft Latam seemingly deleted the tweet rather quickly, raising questions about whether or not anything is actually in the works. After all, it could go one of a few ways. The case that everyone is likely hoping for is that this was an accidental leak, which the company deleted because the information wasn't meant to be announced yet. 

On the other hand, the far less exciting but not unreasonable option could be that it was either a total mistake or even a joke that the company realized was going to be taken the wrong way. At this point, it's impossible to tell, so we'll just have to see if anything gets announced in a slightly more concrete way.

While you're here, be sure to check out our ranking of the best Assassin's Creed games.

"Of course we're making creative choices," art director Thierry Dansereau told Eurogamer at Gamescom. "It's a video game in the end, so we want to make the best experience possible for our players." Dansereau noted that the team has "worked with Osaka and Tokyo studios [who've acted] as consultants. One of their art directors is involved and doing research in the field. We went there, we did a field trip as well, and we have Japanese experts living in Japan."

Dansereau added, "There was a letter published by Ubisoft apologising to that group of people in Japan. But something they need to know is we are working with experts, world-renowned experts, and if we have in any way offended [people] we are sorry but this is not the goal. We've paid a lot of attention to stay as respectful as possible to Japanese culture, but creative choices are made on our side, based on all the discussions we had with our own group of experts. We're confident with how the game will be received."

However the character ends up being portrayed, Yasuke's appearance in Assassin's Creed Shadows has generated no shortage of opinions. Even veteran Capcom developer Yoshiki Okamoto weighed in, saying the backlash was overblown because "it's a game, it's fantasy, not reality." Nonetheless, the vitriol has gotten intense enough that Ubisoft's CEO was denouncing "hateful acts" toward the company's developers just a few months ago.

How Assassin's Creed Shadows is using changing seasons and dynamic weather to be the series' "most advanced" game yet.

Everything is intended to come together to transport us into what will hopefully be a living and breathing environment. Not only is it intended to look visually impressive, but Dansereau says the open-world setting is also designed to be more interactive and responsive to you, with footage showing Naoe slicing through bamboo, while Yasuke tears his way through paper screen doors. 

"Our goal is to immerse the player as much as possible in the world," Dansereau says. "So we didn't want our world to feel like a background that has nothing to do with your gameplay experience. This is why we have put a lot of attention and detail [into] our props and foliage destruction so that the player can interact with the world - break stuff, break foliage, bushes[…] because we wanted to support the fantasy of the katana being the sharpest blade made by humans at this time, but we apply the same principle to all of the weapons that you'll be able to use in the game." 

Weather and seasons  

The world of Assassin's Creed Shadows' is equivalent to that of Assassin's Creed Origins in "terms of play size", with Dansereau adding that the team reworked the setting to a "much more realistic scale ratio compared to the previous titles" to reflect the mountains within the landscape of Japan that they wanted to capture. During the tech demo, I get to see some of the ways the team is trying to make its world feel more alive and immersive, with picturesque environments that move with the wind, and reflect light in realistic ways. As one of the most long awaited settings in the series, it's clear from speaking with Dansereau that the team felt pressure to bring something new and go beyond what has been done before.  

"This time around was difficult, because we knew it was a highly anticipated setting, and we knew that the expectations were very high," Dansereau says, "and so we pushed ourselves, [and said] 'okay, let's do something very ambitious'. So we needed that very strong support from the Anvil team, because they're working end to end with us making sure that we have the support we need." 

The weather and changing seasons are some of the biggest changes introduced to the Anvil engine, with conditions brought on by the weather feeding into missions and giving us more ways to navigate through areas. Every season will have "two steps", like early and late spring, and after a certain amount of time, when you fast travel or load, the "the next logical step will be loaded in". As an example, Danserau says that if you're in autumn, then after loading into the game again or another location, you might be in winter. Sometimes certain quests will be tied to specific seasons for narrative reasons, too. 

"The seasons offer the ability to go and see the same location in a different season, but also a different weather state, so from a player point of view, it's a different visual experience and also [a different] gameplay experience," Dansereau says. "This, for us, was something great to achieve in a new-gen game. This is part of what's new for AC that we wanted to do. Of course, it was challenging because we had to rethink the way we were producing assets and how we rig them to the wind tech that was built, [which] is completely new." 

In motion

As Dansereau says during the demo presentation, "the world is in constant motion", and the wind tech is a big part of that. I watch as the wind causes rainfall to bounce off of the rooftop of a temple in a certain direction, or richequot off of Naoe's armor as she runs through a storm. I can also see how it interacts with the landscape, picking up leaves or causing snowflakes to swirl off the ground. 

"It [the wind tech] really follows the world in the environment," Dansereau says. "We are constantly reviewing the game, and at some point we were in a field and just looking at the particles, how they were carried over with the wind. They were swirling around, and we just stopped and looked at the game. And we said, 'wow, this is real'. This is what the system is giving us." 

While it certainly looks impressive, I'm more interested in experiencing how all of these systems will impact the way we play. As an example, Dansereau explains that the weather and seasons can affect how NPCs behave. So, if you were to knock an icicle from a rooftop during winter, that will naturally draw attention, while weather states like fog or the day and night cycles will affect your visibility. Guards can even fall asleep during warm weather, and if it's colder or raining, they might seek shelter and change position. Ultimately the hope is that the various systems introduced will offer more variety and make it so that each player will have a different experience. 

Everything shown certainly looked like it's capturing the "photorealism" the team is striving for, not just in terms of how picturesque it appears, but how it moves, and how light reacts in different ways to make it appear more realistic. How it will actually change how I approach every mission remains to be seen, but from slicing through bamboo, to snuffing out lights, and using the weather for added cover, all of the new systems promise to offer up some new ingredients I'm looking forward to playing around with as Naoe and Yasuke. 

See what else is in store in the stealthy series with our roundup of all of the upcoming Assassin's Creed games on the way.