After years of development and a couple of last-minute delays, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is finally upon us, with the game set to release on March 20. Given how long franchise fans have been crying out for a mainline Assassin’s Creed game set in Japan, it seems destined to go down as one of the series’ biggest and most highly anticipated releases to date.
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With this in mind, it’s not too surprising that there are people who want to start playing the game as soon as possible, hence the huge amount of interest in the Assassin’s Creed Shadows release time and date. The following guide contains confirmed global release times for all major regions and platforms, as well as information about early access (or lack thereof).
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Global Release Times
For console players, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released at midnight on March 20, local time. On PlayStation, local time is determined by the region of the player’s PSN account, with the North American PlayStation Store operating on Eastern time. On Xbox, local time is determined by the internal clock of the player’s console, so it’s once again possible to use the New Zealand trick to start playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows a little earlier.
According to information provided by Ubisoft, the Steam release time for Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be midnight on March 20, Eastern time, meaning those who live elsewhere in the world will need to wait a little longer before they can start playing (see the table below for regional release times). The release times for Assassin’s Creed Shadows on Ubisoft Connect are a little different, so anybody who plans on playing the game there should check out the image above.
Xbox and PlayStation Release Times for Assassin’s Creed Shadows
|
Location / Time Zone |
Release Time |
|---|---|
|
Los Angeles (PST) |
21:00 (March 19) |
|
New York (EST) |
00:00 (March 20) |
|
London (GMT) |
00:00 (March 20) |
|
Berlin (CET) |
00:00 (March 20) |
|
Cairo (EET) |
00:00 (March 20) |
|
Tokyo (JST) |
00:00 (March 20) |
|
Syndey (AEDT) |
00:00 (March 20) |
|
Auckland (NZDT) |
00:00 (March 20) |
Steam Release Times for Assassin’s Creed Shadows
|
Location / Time Zone |
Release Time |
|---|---|
|
Los Angeles (PST) |
21:00 (March 19) |
|
New York (EST) |
00:00 (March 20) |
|
London (GMT) |
04:00 (March 20) |
|
Berlin (CET) |
05:00 (March 20) |
|
Cairo (EET) |
06:00 (March 20) |
|
Tokyo (JST) |
13:00 (March 20) |
|
Syndey (AEDT) |
15:00 (March 20) |
|
Auckland (NZDT) |
16:00 (March 20) |
Can You Play Assassin’s Creed Shadows Early?
Although Ubisoft was at one point planning to offer two days of early access for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, these plans were ultimately shelved after the game was delayed for a second time. As such, save for using the Xbox New Zealand trick to shave a few hours off of the wait, there is no way to play Assassin’s Creed Shadows early.
- Released
-
March 20, 2025
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
FAQ
Q: What Time Can I Start Playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on March 20. For those playing the game on Xbox or PlayStation, the release time will be midnight, local time. The Steam version of Assassin’s Creed Shadows will go live at midnight EDT regardless of where players reside.