Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed to February 14, 2025, so the team has more time to polish and refine the game. Ubisoft shared more details in a financial statement, explaining that the game is feature complete, but lessons from the Star Wars Outlaws release prompted the decision to allow additional time for polishing the title. This feels like a subtle admission that Star Wars Outlaws was rushed, which was evident from the numerous bugs I encountered during my playthrough. More interestingly, Ubisoft is departing from the traditional Season Pass model, starting with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The company is refunding all preorders, and future preorders will include the first expansion for free. Finally, Ubisoft’s new releases will also launch on Steam day one moving forward.
The company acknowledged that its second-quarter performance fell short of expectations, and deserves credit for addressing the issues quickly rather than doubling down on past mistakes. The financial statement admitted Star Wars Outlaws initial sales were softer than expected, and the team is hard at work to polish and improve the experience to position it as a strong long-term performer, especially for the upcoming holiday season. Star Wars Outlaws will head to Steam on November 21.
Here’s the full message on Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ delay that was shared on social media:
Dear players,
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a dream project for us; finally bringing the series to Feudal Japan with many features developed with our community in mind, such as parkour or the renewed stealth, brought by new technology, all set in a beautiful and immersive world.
This is an ambitious addition to the franchise, a rich experience that can be lived through the eyes of two unique protagonists – but we realize we need more time to polish and refine the experience, pushing further some of our key features.
As such, we’ve made the decision to postpone the release date to February 14, 2025. The game will release on a broad range of platforms, including Steam at launch. Additionally, preorders will be refunded and all future preorders will be granted the first expansion for free.
We understand this decision will come as disappointing news, especially to those who’ve been waiting patiently for an Assassin’s Creed game inspired by Feudal Japan, but we sincerely believe this is in the best interest of the game, and ultimately your experience as a player.
Rest assured we are looking forward to the moment you will embark on a memorable adventure with Naoe and Yasuke.
Until then, we thank you for your ongoing support.
Marc-Alexis Côté, on behalf of all teams working on Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
