Assassin’s Creed Shadows Devs Walk Us Through Its Development Journey

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will soon be hitting shelves, and the game’s gone through a lot in its development—as all games do. Assassin’s Creed Shadows will rope in features old and new, while finally taking players to the long-awaited setting of feudal Japan.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches March 20 with a variety of enticing features, such as dual protagonists, a vast arsenal lifted from Japan’s Sengoku period, a reworked stealth system, a Canon Mode, and more. Game Rant recently sat down with a number of devs working on the title, including VP and executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté, creative producer Jonathan Dumont, UX director Jonathan Bédard, and associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Development Journey Explained By Its Devs

Pre-Development Hints

Q: Let’s go back to day one, or quite frankly, before that. Assassin’s Creed 3 first teased what would become Shadows when it showed Connor an Eye of Horus, an Omega Symbol, and the Torii gate. What can you recall around this time about internal thoughts regarding Japan at this time?

Côté: Origins, Odyssey and Shadows were not on our franchise roadmap back then (in fact, we were already quite busy either producing or planning Black Flag, Unity and Syndicate). However, Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Feudal Japan were consistently settings requested by fans, so it felt safe to hint that one day we would go there.

Q: Was there ever a concept for “AC Shadows” around this time?

Côté: While I was not overseeing the franchise, to the extent of my knowledge, no. Certainly not something that we had a team seriously working on.

Q: Japan is one of Assassin’s Creed’s most fan-desired settings prior to and partially because of that initial tease. When starting this project, how did this expectation weigh in—if at all?

Lemay-Comtois: Well, that little teaser did not really factor in our team’s decision. We looked at a few other settings early on, but it really felt like Feudal Japan during the Sengoku period, would be the ideal setting to renew and reinvigorate our stealth experience—which had evolved into one of many gameplay options players could use in some of our previous RPG titles, instead of the core pillar it once was.

The assassin and shinobi fantasies share many obvious similarities—and Naoe’s shinobi upbringing was the proverbial Cinderella Glass Shoe, that perfectly recasts stealth at the very center of the gameplay experience.

How Shadows Got Its Start

Q: Jumping to AC Shadows, what can you tell us about the initial pitch of the game? What has changed the most since then?

Dumont: Actually, nothing major has changed from the end of the conception phase. It was a challenge to make two overlapping stories throughout production, so we moved some pieces here and there, but we stuck to our core design once and decided to move forward with the 2-protagonist approach.

The design goes through an iterative process and refinement from there, but the game we have now is very close to the game we set out to do from the start.

Q: What did the first week, months, and year of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ development look like?

Dumont: The start of conception always kicks off with diving into the setting for a few months to soak it all in and letting the setting dictate the early stages of the creative vision. So a lot of research, reading, consultations, and watching videos and movies to help extract the core of the game. This part is done with a very small group at first.

Then, while the research process continues throughout production, we will start outlining the key aspects of our design, systems, characters, historical events, and story. We narrowed down the ninja fantasy, from move sets, to stealth, to establishing the spy system…

The setting guided us towards a strong player fantasy and our world building. We started developing the Naoe character. As we kept detailing her, the samurai fantasy kept emerging as well, so we decided to move into having two different POV and clear playstyles, and this is the moment Yasuke joined the adventure. This was great because the late Sengoku period had a lot of nuances to the conflicts in the world, and it allowed us to approach our narrative with a bit more depth by allowing multiple perspectives around events and historical characters to build our fiction.

So, through the first year, the team slowly grows as the concept of different parts of the game get defined, and the team grows organically. I think the first year is where we make the most important decisions and try to project into the future. How will this game feel? We develop a strong vision and direction that the team will rally around and push even further.

Game Design Process

Q: AC Shadows was first confirmed as Codename Red at Ubisoft Forward in 2022. Can you talk a little bit about the stage AC Shadows was in around that time? Can you also discuss a little bit of the work accomplished since then?

Lemay-Comtois: If I recall, this was around our “First Playable” build, which features a few prototypes teasing the promise of some of our features: weapon-based combat, armor-breaking mechanics, prone navigation, physics-based grappling hook, and a rather convincing first iteration of Atmos, our new weather simulation system—all done with the backdrop of our first stunning Japanese Castle.

The core ideas of no longer being a jack-of-all-trades and having to adapt to the situation you are dealt with was also there, which rapidly evolved into our dual protagonist approach. We didn’t have our exploration systems figured out yet, nor dynamic shadows impacting stealth—but a few of us were stubborn enough to keep refining ideas and pushing the tech until we achieved what we were after.

Q: Shadows will be the first time the AC series will fully leave the last generation of consoles. What was the driving factor behind that decision?

Dumont: We really wanted to make a new generation world that flows and moves. A world that was more dynamic and beautiful and had a lot of details. It really shaped our decision.

Game Design Process

Q: Can you discuss the types of accessibility features that are available in AC Shadows?

Bedard: Accessibility remains a key pillar for us on Assassin’s Creed and you can expect the same kind of support for accessibility on this one compared to what we did in previous games, some things getting reworked, as well as some new elements. More information can be found in this article we recently published.

Q: Ubisoft Quebec has worked on several Assassin’s Creed games, in some capacity, to this point. What would you say makes the development of Shadows “special” or unique in comparison to titles like Syndicate and Odyssey?

Dumont: Each game comes with a different set of challenges and opportunities. Where I think Syndicate was more of a proving ground for our team, and Odyssey a turn towards embracing RPG, for Shadows, I think it revolved around bringing this amazing setting to new technological heights. The team was very enthusiastic about the setting, but it came with additional pressure to make it feel more alive, beautiful, and respectful, and maximize our technological improvements. It’s a humbling experience to take on those challenges, and we hope our players can see our love for that world and its characters.

Shadows’ Launch And Beyond

Shadows Post-Launch And DLC Plans

Q: What can you tell us about the Thrown to the Dogs pre-order bonus?

Dumont: Thrown to the Dogs is a simple yet heartfelt side quest. Since it’s a stand-alone story, we can say that it’s reminiscent of Odyssey‘s side content. In this quest, the protagonists stumble upon a beaten-up, stray dog that is waiting at a grave. The dog attracts your attention to follow him to the former house of the deceased. There our protagonists uncover some family secrets…

Q: What can you say at large about the Claws of Awaji Expansion? How does the island of Awaji differ from mainland Japan?

Dumont: It will have a different vibe, a bit spookier I would say. It is a continuation of our two protagonists’ adventure and storyline. The main game has a definite ending, but there is always more to explore, and Claws of Awaji events take place after the core story of the main game.

Q: Similarly, if possible, what does the Bo staff add to the game?

Lemay-Comtois: It’s a new melee weapon for Naoe that switches the type of damage she can deal—including a few new non-lethal options.

Q: Similarly (again if possible), what can you tell us about the Sanzoku Ippa? Are they completely distinct from the Shinbakufu or are they more of an off-shoot?

Lemay-Comtois: The Sanzoku Ippa are well-ingrained on the goings-on of Awaji island. They’re known to use tactics not too dissimilar to the players’—including creative use of counter-intelligence measures…

Game Design Process

Shadows On Launch

Q: It’s been said that Shadows’ post-launch support will differ from Valhalla. What can you tell us regarding plans here?

Lemay-Comtois: Beyond the Claws of Awaji DLC and a few special events and additional content we have on the calendar, our plan is to listen to and support our community as best as we can, with quality-of-life updates, gameplay tweaks and additional options. We plan on giving more of what they want to our players, first and foremost.

Q: How are you feeling about the upcoming launch? How does this feeling compare to past AC launches?

Dumont: The team has worked really hard and dedicated themselves to making AC Shadows an amazing experience for our players. We are very excited to finally have everyone adventure into feudal Japan. The journey has been a long learning process, and we really hope people enjoy it.

Q: How will Ubisoft Quebec celebrate come launch day?

Lemay-Comtois: Developing a game is always a journey, and the launch is in itself a big event and celebration. We usually like to organize launch parties within every studio that worked on the project all around the world. It’s always a great time for us to bond and see the distance we have traveled, preferably for some with a glass of champagne and maybe even some Domino’s Pizza. We’re sure they will be delivered on time.

Q: MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: Can you talk about the process of designing the Shiba Inus in-game? Are they based on anyone’s real Shiba Inu?

Lemay-Comtois: Well… there are also Akita dogs in the game, so… we may or may not have a character artist/modeler who put their own dog in the game!

But to answer the question, animals in the game are created and animated by hand—including the petting animations. So unfortunately, there was no mocap magic for our little critters in Shadows, and we didn’t get to pet the dog in real life…

Q: Is there any aspect of the game you wish to discuss or highlight for Game Rant Advance, anything we perhaps missed here?

Lemay-Comtois: Much has been said online about assassination damage, and the fact that some enemies can survive or outright deny your assassination attempts. While we do support the option to have “guaranteed assassinations” for those who really want it, our dev team URGES players to try the game as intended before toggling the option… Play around with skills and gear perks: condition yourselves to think things through before diving into a kill—who are you going to take down first? What is the best angle of attack? How can you get a target to expose themselves for that optimal angle of attack? All these things matter in Shadows’ stealth experience, and we promise that engaging with the game on its own terms will be worth your while… There’s always a way to overcome the challenge!