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Ubisoft hopes the recent Assassin’s Creed Shadows delay will help “change the narrative” around the developer, while also addressing the perceived inconsistency of its releases. With Shadows coming off the back of an incredibly tough 2024 for Ubisoft, the studio is doing all it can to right the ship with its most well-known series. Both Prince of Persia The Lost Crown and Star Wars Outlaws didn’t meet Ubisoft’s expectations this year, so the studio is changing its strategy with Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Now that Ubisoft has pushed back the Assassin’s Creed Shadows release date, the developer hopes that the extra time will do more than just improve the game itself. Before Assassin’s Creed Shadows was set to drop, Ubisoft had already had a tough year. Games like Star Wars Outlaws and The Lost Crown struggled to meet expectations, and neither of them coming to Steam on day one didn’t help. Now, the RPG series is coming back in 2025, and Assassin’s Creed executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté thinks this will do right by players.
“Players can afford to be selective, choosing only the best, and they rightfully demand excellence. Ubisoft’s portfolio has faced criticism in recent years for a perceived inconsistency in quality,” Côté says during a speech at a BAFTA event transcribed by Eurogamer.
“Players expect more polish, more innovation, and deeper engagement from the games we release, and they’re not shy about letting us know when they feel we have fallen short. This environment pushes us to do better and to be better,” Côté continues. “Assassin’s Creed Shadows represents our opportunity to change that narrative, not just for Assassin’s Creed, but I think for Ubisoft as a whole.”
Côté is referring to how Ubisoft recently delayed Assassin’s Creed Shadows into 2025, in an effort to “polish and refine the experience.” The delay also comes with a handful of changes to how Shadows is being released, as it’ll now debut on day one on Steam while the early access period has been canceled.
Going forward, Ubisoft says all of its new releases will come to Steam the same day as everywhere else. Before now, Ubisoft opted to launch its games on PC via Epic and its own Connect storefront, with popular games coming to Steam sometime afterward.
With the next game in the series firmly on the way we’ve broken down everything we already know about the Assassin’s Creed Shadows map, and the best stealth games to play on PC before it arrives.
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