Assassin's Creed Shadows was supposed to be launching on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S in just over a month's time, but unfortunately that's no longer the case as it's just been delayed to March 20, 2025.
Ubisoft says "a few additional weeks are needed" to implement the "valuable feedback" that the Assassin's Creed's community have been providing to the team, and therefore it's going to be another month until we can get hands on it.
"Since November, we've been thrilled to share our progress through Gameplay Overviews, and the overwhelming excitement has truly inspired us. Each week has brought valuable feedback from our community. While we've already made remarkable strides, we believe a few additional weeks are needed to implement that feedback and ensure an even more ambitious and engaging day-one experience."
As much as this might be disappointing to Assassin's Creed fans, it probably makes sense from a scheduling perspective. Previously, Shadows was set to launch around the same time as Avowed, Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and Monster Hunter Wilds, so it definitely had some competition!
March is looking a bit less chaotic at the moment, so these extra few weeks may have been worth taking regardless of whether the development team needed them or not. We'll see how it fares when it launches in two months' time.
What are your thoughts on this delay to Assassin's Creed Shadows? Tell us in the comments below.
Comments 32
Id rather have a delayed game than a buggy unfinished game. I really want this one to be good.
@The-Chosen-one very very true.
Also gets it out the way of the new "Ghost of" on PS.
February is so busy March is a more sensible release date... and a month of extra polish, seems like a sensible decision.
Totally agree release the game at top quality AAA level or don’t bother at all.
Good decision.
Would be funny if that also ended up as Switch 2 release date.
I can wait, but I find it funny that Avowed was rumored to be delayed mostly to avoid launching the same week as Assassin's Creed Shadows and here we are now...
This absolutely got pushed back because the very existence of Ghost of Yotei.
That game looked knockout just from the trailer alone.
Ubisoft claimed it was "feature ready" yet it's had at least 2 delays.
Suckerpunch will deliver a fantastic samurai game (again) and Ubi will deliver, well, Ubi meh, with samurais.
After what Ubisoft did to XDefiant they ain't getting a dime from me. They can delay this game indefinitely and go under for all I care.
@MinervaX76 Avowed was supposedly delayed because Microsoft had a LOT of other releases due in the last quarter 2024 and so delayed Avowed so they have games in Q1 too.
Black Ops 6, Indiana Jones, Stalker 2 and the Starfield Expansion for example all came out. Avowed would likely have been competing with their own IP's for your 'time' (not just money).
Game Pass too factors in - every 'month' there is usually at least 1 'big' new game and MS themselves want at least 1 MS made game every Quarter. That gives each title a chance to build up a player base and retain it before the next 'big' release - they aren't competing against each other for your 'time'. It also means that every month there is something 'big' to attract subscribers.
AC Shadows isn't competing with Avowed on Xbox - its got a barrier to entry and those with Game Pass may opt to play Avowed for 'free' and wait for AC Shadows to be available in a sale for example because of that $70 'entry' price.
Also very different games too - They are both very different and likely appeal to different people (although I know there will be a subset of those that both games appeal to). You wouldn't expect Avowed to 'outsell' AC Shadows regardless due to its availability on Game Pass and not releasing on PS5 Day 1.
Anyway, the point is that Avowed was delayed so MS had games in Q1 to release and not compete with their Q4 24 releases. It had nothing to do with AC Shadows....
Makes sense. It's a crowded month. Doesn't have anything to do with any Sony game though. 😂
@Lup Now you can play Pirate Yakuza before AC!
@abe_hikura How will it get this game out of the way of another game that doesn't have a release date besides 2025?
Also, given Sony's track record, the offical date for Ghost of Yotei will likely be revealed 4 or 5 months before the game releases, so they'll be pretty far apart.
I dont get too concerned about 1 month delays. Those are more of the minor bug cleanup/get out of the way of other games situations.
A birthday treat for me 🎂
Suits me... I'm slowly working my way through Hogwarts Legacy and I've got a meta quest vr on the way so, I was never going to have the time for this too even though it looks great! So many good games for me to get through. Could do with 2 weeks of no responsibilitys, job and kids and I might get somewhere in my backlog😅 not even looked at Indiana Jones yet either...
@FarmDog08
Yes, I was going to wait for a sale, but now I don't know.
I hope it's not a disappointment like mirage, what a yawn fest it was, go back to Valhalla or Odyssey.
Stop the crap oh" people would like short games crap".
It was an average game.
More like it was pushed back because of theGhosts of Yotei. And to give the retooled the ad campaign time to kick in.
As much as I hate Ubisoft I’ve always had a soft spot for the AC games so I hope they deliver…plus February is a pretty stacked month for releases it’s prob safer to push it till March
Well, that gives Ubisoft extra time to do some other stupid thing and annoy the fan base more.
Always give Ubisoft more rope. It’s always entertaining.
Went from competing the same month as Monster Hunter Wilds to competing the same day as Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition.
Yeah, this was going to be the 5th biggest game in February:
Monster Hunter Wilds
Civ VII
Kingdom Come Deliverance II
Avowed
Ubisoft is trying to sell the company, and having their flagship franchise underperform will severely damage their value. It likely won't hit its sales expectations whenever it comes out, but February would have been brutal.
@InvaderFromSpace it is smart to move AC to march but I think the only game on your list that might sell more than Shadows is monster hunter. The others are either not as well known, are more niche or have a smaller player base.
Point is it would have comfortably been the second biggest game of Feb and I'm sure it will sell very well despite the 'controversy' just like Hogwarts legacy
At this rate it’ll be getting into GTAVI territory
Don't really understand the comments about it being delayed to avoid Ghost of Yotei - does that have a release date yet?
Besides, in terms of sales, the AC is considerably bigger than Ghost of Tsushima/Yotei; AC Valhalla (universally derided according to internet echo chambers) sold many millions more copies and made an absolute fortune compared to Ghost of Tsushima (universally adored according to internet echo chambers).
If anything, Sony would want to be avoiding the samurai game from the more prestigious franchise, not vice versa.
Also have to laugh at the poster above saying KCD2 would have been a bigger seller in February than AC Shadows. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that is a possibility.
I'm not even a huge Ubisoft fan, but the bandwagon jumping is so tiresome. They made one of the best games of last year in Prince of Persia so they can't be all bad. Welcome to the internet, I guess.
The revelation that they are not covering Japan properly has caused a festive atmosphere in Japan.
@OldGamer999
I would be so hyped if thats the case hahah
Yeh this isn’t such a big deal and is a good decision. Don’t want or need any more broken games on release day.
I can't wait to be the Gold version of Shadows for 75% off in April 2025
@Techno92LFC
It's kind of a big deal knowing Ubisoft's track record, even with the delay it will still be broken at launch
@The-Chosen-one
How do you feel about games that are both delayed and buggy? It seems to be the thing these days.
@stefan771
Yeaj that s#cks also. And if that is the case with this game, then they havent learned anything 😂
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