Assassin’s Creed Shadows delayed to 2025 as Ubisoft try to recover from “softer than expected” Star Wars Outlaws launch

The AssCreed faithful have waited a thousand years for a sequel set in feudal Japan, birthplace of ninjas and samurai. Woe unto ye dreamers of Ubisoft takes on Tenchu, for you must carry that candle for a little longer. Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed till next year. It was due to launch on 12th November 2024 – now, it will release on 14th February 2025.

The news comes in the shape of an updating of Ubisoft’s targets for the financial year 2024-2025, primarily in response to the “softer than expected launch for Star Wars Outlaws”. According to Uncle Ubi, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is “feature complete”, but needs more time in the oven to avoid a similarly dismal showing.

“While the game is feature complete, the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title,” the statement reads. “This will enable the biggest entry in the franchise to fully deliver on its ambition, notably by fulfilling the promise of our dual protagonist adventure, with Naoe and Yasuke bringing two very different gameplay styles.”

In news that will delight the ears of people who think live service expansion roadmaps are the Devil’s downloadables, Ubisoft are also “departing from the traditional Season Pass model”, though players who preorder the game will be granted the first expansion for free. Shadows will also now “mark the return of our new releases on Steam Day 1” – it’ll launch there rather than being exclusive at first on Ubisoft’s own storefront. Makes sense – I’m pretty sure Steam has a larger audience than Ubisoft’s own store, given that I’d forgotten they had one.

Ubisoft haven’t washed their hands of Outlaws just yet. They’re going to update it extensively ahead of the Steam launch on 21st November. “In response to player feedback, Ubisoft’s development teams are currently fully mobilized to swiftly implement a series of updates to polish and improve the player experience in order to engage a large audience during the holiday season to position Star Wars Outlaws as a strong long-term performer,” reads the statement. The phrasing here puts me slightly in mind of British generals promising that WW1 will be over by Christmas, but I’m probably being unkind – I hear that Outlaws is quite good, for a star war.

The principal audience for these statements are the investors, of course, from whom Ubisoft have been getting it in the neck lately over their slumping share price and lower-than-hoped returns on blockbuster games. In some accompanying exec commentary, CEO Yves Guillemot acknowledges that “our second quarter performance fell short of our expectations” while promising a greater focus on “player-centric, gameplay-first approach and an unwavering commitment to the long-term value of our brands”. He adds that “Open World Adventures and GaaS-native experiences” are Ubisoft’s bread and butter.

He also makes brief reference to the on-going, ermmm, discussion about the representational politics of Ubisoft’s games. In case you missed it, Outlaw’s choice of a female lead who doesn’t look like an AI-hallucinated Jessica Rabbit has earned it the ire of certain internet misogynists, while Shadows is getting similarly dumped on by racists for having a Black samurai protagonist (if you dislike what you’ve seen of either game, please don’t get mad at me in the comments – there are other reasons to dislike these games!). In keeping with time-honoured company exec practice, Guillemot deals with this by lifting his eyes to the skyline and benevolently refusing to agree with anybody at all.

“Finally, let me address some of the polarized comments around Ubisoft lately,” he writes. “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.”

I saw Assassin’s Creed Shadows up close at Summer Games Fest, and it seemed fine as Assassin’s Creeds go, with an unusually hearty ratio of stealth and melee. But I can definitely wait till 2025. Delaying an open world blockbusters these days is like postponing a solar eclipse, granting smaller games with no established brand presence a chance to bask in the heat a little. Enjoy the breathing room, uhhhh [checks calendar] Slitterhead!