Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed to February

Ubisoft has announced the decision to move the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows from November 15 to February 2025 on Twitter.

In a conference call caught by VGC, Ubisoft explained that while the game is feature-complete, the team is working to implement lessons learned from the unsuccessful launch of Star Wars Outlaws.

The company will also do away with the traditional season pass model, saying, “all players will be able to enjoy the game at the same time on February 14, and those who preorder the game will be granted the first expansion for free.”

Is Assassin’s Creed Shadows being delayed for a different reason?

Trying to polish the game to avoid repeating the catastrophic release of Assassin’s Creed Unity would be a valid reason to delay the game. Another would be an attempt to course-correct Ubisoft’s recent monetization efforts that seemingly didn’t work well enough with Star Wars Outlaws. That, however, might not be all.

This delay is but the newest chapter in the unreleased game’s already troubled history with players. The original reveal, which struck most as a breath of fresh air, still irked a very vocal corner of the internet who cannot fathom the concept of a black Samurai.

Even when a Japanese historian who didn’t graduate from the University of the Internet guaranteed that Yasuke, one of the two main characters, did indeed exist and was undoubtedly Samurai, people didn’t stop complaining.

Though most complaints were unfounded, Ubisoft released a press statement apologizing to Japanese players for some inaccuracies of the portrayal of feudal Japan in the game. Strange, as they were definitely not the demographic behind most of the noise.

That disappointing caving in has led a few to theorize that Ubisoft might be trying to overhaul not just the mechanics and monetization, but many of the original story beats and character details as well.

The announcement comes a day after Sucker Punch revealed Ghost of Yotei, which looks amazing. Here’s hoping Ubisoft is only delaying the game to make it even better in the face of such such daunting competition.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is now set for a February 14, 2025 release.