If Ubisoft took Assassin's Creed to Feudal Japan a decade ago, the developer would likely still be eating off its success today. But in the company's wait to presumably do that setting justice – after all, fans have been crying out for it since the days of Altair and Ezio – other studios got there first. Assassin's Creed Shadows will finally deliver on that original fantasy, but with the likes of Ghost of Tsushima beating it to the punch, Ubisoft faces the challenge of following in their footsteps rather than breaking new ground.
To make matters worse, Ubisoft faces an internal crisis. Financial woes have left the company's leadership presumably exploring buyout options, while lukewarm critical receptions to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws suggest that the developer's tried-and-true open-world formula doesn't have the same draw it once did. With Assassin's Creed Shadows' latest delay pushing it back to March 20, a once-surefire victory now feels like Ubisoft's last chance to dictate its own future. The stakes couldn't be higher – but if Shadows' delays buy room for its developer to innovate, I wouldn't write Ubisoft off just yet.
Requiescat in pace?
Upcoming Assassin's Creed games: Every new Assassin's Creed game in development
By 2014, I'd stopped playing Assassin's Creed as religiously as I once did. With the conclusion of Ezio's story in Assassin's Creed Revelations, along with a generally mediocre offering in Assassin's Creed 3, it felt like the series could no longer coast solely on how fun it is to be a little rooftop scamp. Change was necessary – and 2013's Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag stepped up to the occasion, with its ship-based adventuring a high point for Assassin's Creed to this day. But that innovation didn't stick, and we were once again tip-toeing over terracotta in Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Burned out, I didn't play either entry – and I wasn't the only one, with Syndicate's London adventure going on to be one of the series' worst-selling games (although I'm told it's very good).
Once again, Ubisoft was in a rut – but it didn't stay there. Enter Assassin's Creed Origins, which was given more development time to learn from the missteps of its predecessors. A vast open-world RPG, Origins ultimately paid less homage to the series' past and more to 2015 hit The Witcher 3. As industry trends heralded vaster open-world games, Ubisoft was at the forefront of that shift. Origins' dizzying size was not only novel but actively sought after by many fans, with a wealth of activities that made exploring every inch of Egypt a delight.
Meanwhile, playable areas in Ubisoft's Far Cry series became denser than ever, filled with sandbox-style activities that encouraged outpost-clearing and climbing vistas to unlock new parts of the map. The two philosophies converged into Ubisoft's now-staple open world formula: UI-heavy adventures where there are Things To Do, Always. It largely worked for Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Assassin's Creed Valhalla, although a steadily-growing voice in the fandom complained that even these games had too much to deal with.
Even today, there are still a glut of open world games that ape Ubisoft's own dense, UI-heavy maps. But over the last few years, we've started seeing players flock to games that encourage exploration for the sake of discovery. And while RPGs like Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3 have pushed that boat out even further, Ubisoft has lagged behind despite slight improvements. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora made fantastic strides toward making collectible resources less intrusive – I loved having to hunt down herbs by biome and needing to pluck them carefully – but in a lot of areas, it was Far Cry by numbers. Star Wars Outlaws, while still similar in parts, fostered a far more natural environment for side quests. Your next score was more likely to be found eavesdropping in a bustling canteen, rather than an icon on the minimap.
Unfortunately, Assassins Creed Shadows doesn't have the luxury of continuing with these gradual iterations. For Shadows to be the showstopper Ubisoft desperately needs, we need to see the same revitalizing breath of fresh air that Black Flag and Origins brought. Feudal Japan needs to make us feel, not do. Achieve that, and the endless busybodying will come naturally. The good news is that, since Shadows was pushed out of 2024 shortly after Outlaws' lukewarm reception, I think Ubisoft is making a sincere effort to do just that. Just look at the parkour systems revealed this week – Shadows' movement looks more fluid than anything the series has put out before, while unclimbable surfaces and more in-depth stealth mechanics (prone sickos rejoice) suggest we'll have to put much more thought into how we engage with the world.
Likewise, its dual protagonists seem like they'll offer two very different experiences. Shinobi Naoe will scratch an itch for the series' traditional stealth playstyle, while samurai Yasuke will be able to handle the louder combat-heavy encounters we've seen more of since Origins. But it's also worth remembering that Assassin's Creed fans have been begging for this setting for over a decade, and Shadows mere existence will be wish fulfillment for many. The stakes are high, yes, but it would be silly to pretend there isn't already so much going well for Shadows. Time and time again, Ubisoft has proven it can deliver when it counts – and if these last two delays have bought the developer time to step up to bat, I wouldn't rule out a home run just yet.
See where Assassin's Creed Shadows sits in our Big in 2025 roundup of this year's 50 most anticipated games
