Assassin's Creed Shadows seasons and how to change them explained

Assassin's Creed Shadows seasons: Naoe walking in a garden during Spring with a Sakura tree in the background. — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

The Assassin's Creed Shadows seasons system is a new addition to the AC series that changes the world environment and resets certain mechanics, as well as reaping new rewards for the player. However, despite how important it is, it's probably one of the less-explained new features in Assassin's Creed Shadows. So, you may be wondering how to change seasons in the new game. Well, below, we explain seasons in full, breaking down the difference between them in-game, time restraints, how to manually change them, and more.

How to change seasons in Assassin's Creed Shadows

Assassin's Creed Shadows seasons: A screenshot of a map showing what season the player currently is in during AC Shadows.

Seasons in Assassin's Creed Shadows change roughly every two hours, as outlined by the timer on the compass in the top right-hand corner of the map. During this time, half of the season will be during the day and half at night.

Once that time is over, the season will change automatically when you fast-travel, or you can trigger it manually by holding the right button on the D-Pad while on the map.

However, you do have to wait for the timer to elapse - there is no way to change seasons or pass time whenever you want.

If you've just started Spring and really want to play in the Winter, you have no option but to just let time naturally pass, which also goes for the day-night cycle. These seasons are also broken into two phases, "early" and "late," with minor differences between each one.

What does changing seasons in Assassin's Creed Shadows do?

Assassin's Creed Shadows seasons: Naoe sneaking past a house during night time in AC Shadows. — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

Changing Seasons in AC Shadows has numerous effects on both the world and the player. Below, we've listed what you can expect to experience if you do decide to change seasons:

Changes to the environment are dependent on what season you enter.
All "Wanted" alerts are removed in every region.
You regain all expended Assassin's Creed Shadows Scouts.
All smuggled Assassin's Creed Shadows Hideout resources are collected and can be spent.
Any unused scouts fill the Salvage Chest at the hideout.

Assassin's Creed Shadows seasons: An overview of rice fields during AC Shadows. — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

The environmental effects are contextual and can be both good and bad. Winter can turn ponds into solid ice you can walk on. It can also add icicles that can be knocked down to catch enemies' attention.

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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.