Summary
- Ubisoft won’t delay Assassin’s Creed Shadows again, according to a report.
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows is reported to have over 300,000 pre-orders.
- The studio needed additional time to perfect the feeling of parkour with feudal Japanese architecture.
Amid a tumultuous time at Ubisoft, the latest instalment in the studio’s flagship series, Assassin’s Creed, has also had a dramatic development cycle. Originally set for release in November of last year, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has already been delayed twice.
According to sources familiar to Insider Gaming, Ubisoft is confident that Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on March 20. This development could be important for Ubisoft’s financial future, as March 20 falls before the end of the financial year 2024. As the founding Guillemot family and their backers Tencent are searching for a buyer to take the company private, a stronger final quarter spurred on by the successful launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows could prove advantageous.
Third Time’s the Charm
Ubisoft has described the number of pre-orders for Assassin’s Creed Shadows as “in line with those of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey,” the second most successful game in the series (after Valhalla). According to Insider Gaming’s report, Shadows has over 300,000 pre-orders.
Following the high-profile underperformance of Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft is hoping for a strong commercial return from Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Outlaws’ lack of polish and unpopular stealth mechanics are likely partially responsible for how careful Ubisoft is being with the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The most recent delay occurred to allow the team more time to adjust the game’s parkour mechanics, according to game director Charles Benoit.
The parkour in Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been a particularly difficult task for the development team to perfect because of the complexity of Japanese architecture. In an interview with IGN, Benoit revealed they needed “superfluid animations” on account of the architectural style of feudal Japan, a more difficult task than the team faced during the development of Valhalla and Odyssey.
A strong pre-order base isn’t necessarily a guarantee of success, but it does feel like a prerequisite for success in the triple-A scene. Ubisoft will be hoping for a strong critical performance that drives additional day-one sales.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language