As expected, the company has officially moved Assassin’s Creed Shadows from November 15, 2024, to February 14, 2025. This indicates the company is ready to delay a video game’s release to polish it and make it brighter for gamers.
For those who have been looking forward to Assassin’s Creed as a highly expected game, its impact on fans and the game world in general is rather severe. The extra time will be spent polishing these aspects, especially as we recently experienced with the launch of Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws.
This is also in line with a broader change of strategy at Ubisoft, the company attempting to make sure that the new Assassin’s Creed game will live up to the expectations of its fans.
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Strategic delay heightens expectations for a refined product
Ubisoft’s decision to delay Assassin’s Creed Shadows also shows that the company adapts to changes in the market and never rushes a game to an uncertain launch. Some recent feedback has been taken from Star Wars Outlaws, which was riddled with bug issues and commercial failure despite having a perfect rating.
As Marc-Alexis Côté, the Executive Producer at Ubisoft, mentioned, Shadows is feature complete but necessitates a few more days to polish. The experience drawn from the development of Outlaws is being applied in the final stages of *Shadows*, which is based in feudal Japan and is a feature that fans have long awaited.
The delay also is in tandem with Ubisoft’s plan to bolster its financial health after a couple of years of disappointing each quarter. To maximise the chances of selling Assassin’s Creed Shadows once it is released without many complications, Ubisoft wants to gain a better market share as the gaming industry is constantly changing.
Significant changes, no season pass, and a return to steam
However, one more significant change is that Ubisoft will drastically shift its release schedules. Unlike recent Ubisoft titles, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on Steam right from the start, which means that the company is going back to a wider distribution scheme. This decision will probably make PC gamers happy, as they have been asking for Ubisoft games on this platform for a while now.
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The new game in the world of Assassin’s Creed
Assassin’s Creed Shadows features the dual protagonists Naoe and Yasuke, who offer different play-style experiences. Being an action-adventure game set in feudal Japan, the game boasts strong storytelling, a rare exploration, and an incredibly varied system of combats. People have always expected this setting, proving that Ubisoft is willing to improve the gameplay experience.
Now, with the release date shifted to February 14, 2025, fans should anticipate a polished game built upon the foundations of and paying tribute to the Assassin’s Creed franchise while at the same time serving as a starting for the latest cycle of the series.
Since we are at the earlier stages of the new releases, we are still expecting them. Of course, fans will be expecting improved gameplay and storytelling from Assassin’s Creed Shadows, but that is not all that Ubisoft will need to get right. This may be the key moment in the future of Assassin’s Creed and Ubisoft as an industry leader in the modern video game market.
