Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the highly anticipated game set in Feudal Japan, will no longer meet its original November 15 release date. The company has pushed the launch back to February 14, 2025, citing the need for additional time to refine the game’s features and overall polish.
In a statement, Assassin’s Creed executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté acknowledged the disappointment this may cause fans, but emphasized that the delay is in the best interest of the game and the player experience. “We understand that this news may come as a letdown to those who have been eagerly awaiting an Assassin’s Creed game set in Feudal Japan, but we truly believe that this extra time will allow us to deliver a game that meets our high standards,” Côté wrote on X.
The decision to delay Assassin’s Creed Shadows was influenced, in part, by the release of Star Wars Outlaws, which received positive reviews but underperformed in terms of sales. Ubisoft has taken feedback from players and critics to heart, rolling out changes to address concerns about the game’s punishing stealth sequences. The company hopes that these improvements will help the game find a larger audience during the holiday season, and has announced that Star Wars Outlaws will arrive on Steam on November 21.
The extra development time for Assassin’s Creed Shadows will allow Ubisoft to fully realize its vision for the game, including the dual protagonist adventure featuring Naoe and Yasuke. The company is also shaking up its business practices with this release, marking a return to launching its games on Steam at the same time as other platforms, rather than making them exclusive to Ubisoft Connect on PC for several months. Additionally, Ubisoft is ditching the Season Pass model, instead offering the first expansion for free to those who preorder the game.
