Summary
- A rare bug in Assassin’s Creed Shadows causes the game to get permanently stuck in Ink mode after assassinations.
- Some players like this glitch so much that they are calling for Ubisoft to turn it into a full-fledged feature.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows features a peculiar bug that causes the game to get permanently stuck in “Ink” mode after assassinations—a glitch some players find so cool, they’re hoping it becomes a permanent feature. The bug stands out as one of the rare technical issues fans have discovered in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, as the game has otherwise been praised for its remarkable polish.
Following two delays, the latest mainline entry in Ubisoft’s iconic series launched for PC and current-gen consoles on March 20. Assassin’s Creed Shadows amassed over 1 million players within hours of its release, suggesting that Ubisoft has a big hit on its hands. Among other things, the game received widespread praise for being fairly polished on day one, both in terms of having few technical issues and excellent performance.
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Although the early adopters of Assassin’s Creed Shadows did encounter some bugs, not all of them have been criticized. On the contrary, at least one recently discovered glitch is proving to be so popular that players are actively calling for Ubisoft Montreal to turn it into a feature. The issue, originally identified by Reddit user ManuDOMB, causes the game to get stuck in “Ink” mode following assassinations. Normally, the ink filter would fade out within seconds after assassinating quest targets in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Permanent Ink Filter Bug
What exactly causes the game to get stuck in this mode is unclear. Player accounts testifying to this issue are currently limited, suggesting that the bug itself isn’t widespread. However, some fans actually seem disappointed with this state of affairs. E.g., ManuDOMB said they found the bug “cool” and asked Ubisoft to turn it into a permanent feature. Some players chiming in on their discovery have publicly agreed with this idea.
The actual aesthetic of the post-assassination screen can be replicated in still frames using the Assassin’s Creed Shadows photo mode. The look is based on the Ink filter, which is one of the FX Filter options available in the photo mode’s Filter tab. The aesthetic itself renders every on-screen character in shades of gray, while making the rest of the world tan, thus resembling a parchment. Moreover, all blood is rendered as vivid red in this mode.
Since the post-assassination screen already uses a real-time version of the Ink filter, making this mode permanent ostensibly wouldn’t be too much work for Ubisoft, though it’s debatable whether the game would actually be fully playable in this manner. Still, the idea of having an alternate visual mode that completely changes the game’s art direction isn’t entirely unprecedented. Ghost of Tsushima‘s Kurosawa mode accomplishes something similar, as do Cuphead‘s Black and White mode and Uncharted 4‘s ASCII and Rainbow modes, to name a few examples.
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language