Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s Latest Delay May Be a Necessary Evil

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 10, 2025 39 Views 6 Min Read
Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s Latest Delay May Be a Necessary Evil



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Summary

  • Ubisoft delayed Assassin’s Creed Shadows twice to refine gameplay based on player feedback.
  • February 2025 has a stacked lineup of big game releases, making March 20th a better release date for AC Shadows.
  • Delaying to March distances the game from fierce competition and improves its chances of success.

It’s not uncommon for AAA games to be delayed these days, and that’s especially true of highly controversial titles such as Assassin’s Creed Shadows. However, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a bit of a different story than most, as it has faced nearly insurmountable odds against criticism, despite being what would have otherwise simply been the setting and gameplay many Assassin’s Creed fans have been dreaming of for quite some time. On account of this criticism, Assassin’s Creed Shadows was already delayed once, moving its release date from November 15, 2024 to February 14, 2025, and now it has been delayed once more, with a new release date of March 20, 2025.

The reason for this delay, Ubisoft has stated, is so that the studio can focus more on refining Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ gameplay by continuing to incorporate feedback from players. While this may work in favor of the game’s quality in the long run, it’s still a bit of a disappointment for those who have long awaited its release. Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ quality isn’t the only thing the most recent delay might benefit either, as its new release date could help it to avoid a launch window that has become famous for an unprecedented number of big titles all being released in the same month this year.

Assassins Creed Shadows Stealth Parkour

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Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Latest Delay Might Work in Its Favor

February 2025 Is Stacked With Big Titles

By now, it’s fairly common knowledge in the gaming space that February 2025 is poised to be one of the biggest launch windows in video game history, and this was previously made even truer by Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ addition to the lineup after its first delay. While 2023 was one of the biggest years for gaming, it has been a long time since a single month was so stacked with highly anticipated titles, and most of them AAA at that.

The biggest titles launching in February 2025 are as follows:

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (February 4)
  • Civilization 7 (February 11)
  • Date Everything! (February 14)
  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak 2 (February 14)
  • Avowed (February 18)
  • Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (February 21)
  • Monster Hunter Wilds (February 28)

While each of these games appeals to a vastly different audience, for the most part, it simultaneously means that February 2025’s biggest game releases encompass a wide variety of genres, from open-world RPG to RTS to action adventure. When all is said and done, were Assassin’s Creed Shadows still slated for a February 14 launch, it might find itself completely outnumbered, especially in light of the dissension it has been drowning in ahead of its release.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Latest Delay Distances It From the Competition

Delaying a game once or even twice for the sake of ensuring its quality is one thing, and it’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for why a studio might choose to do so. However, Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ most recent delay almost kills two birds with one stone, not only giving Ubisoft more time to focus on implementing player feedback and refining its gameplay, but also effectively distancing it from many of 2025’s biggest releases. There are over a dozen games launching in March, but none of them pose as much a threat to Assassin’s Creed Shadows as those launching in February. As such, the upcoming Assassin’s Creed game’s new release date of March 20 might be a necessary evil.

Of course, there are no guarantees that Assassin’s Creed Shadows won’t be delayed again, in light of Ubisoft’s renewed focus on gameplay quality and Day-1 experiences. It’s clear that Ubisoft is doing everything it possibly can to encourage a more positive reception of Assassin’s Creed Shadows than the developer’s latest games have been able to achieve. For now, fans will have to wait until the third week of March to see how everything turns out, and hopefully they won’t have to wait any longer than that.

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