Just weeks later, Ubisoft walks back some disappointing Assassin's Creed Shadows news: it will be fully Steam Deck Verified "despite the fact the team thought it would not be the case"

Assassin's Creed Shadows will be Steam Deck compatible and fully Verified at launch after all, Ubisoft has confirmed.

This is a pretty big 180 from Ubisoft, which just weeks ago said in no uncertain terms that Assassin's Creed Shadows wouldn't be Steam Deck compatible at launch due to the mobile hardware's technical limitations. In a tech Q&A from February 12, Ubisoft technology director Pierre F said: "At launch, the game will not be compatible with Steam Deck, due to the fact it is below our minimum specs for PC."

Now, a little more than one month later, Ubisoft dropped a Steam update confirming that not only is Assassin’s Creed Shadows going to be Steam Deck compatible at launch, it'll be Steam Deck Verified as well, meaning there shouldn't be any compatibility issues.

"We have some exciting news to share: our talented developers gave Steam Deck players the option to play Assassin’s Creed Shadows at launch; despite initially announcing we wouldn’t be able to support until later," reads the Steam update. Indeed, the team made great progress over the past few weeks and was able to make it happen for launch, despite the fact the team thought it would not be the case."

Shooting down and subsequently confirming Steam Deck support within a month - six days before the game's launch - tells me Ubisoft must've received an overwhelming amount of feedback from Steam Deck players wanting to play the latest Assassin's Creed game at launch without issue. Regardless, it's good news for portable gamers ready to dive into Assassin’s Creed's brush with feudal Japan.

Assassin's Creed Shadows launches on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on March 20.

I'm finally sold on Assassin's Creed Shadows after seeing Yasuke boot a bad guy through a building in a move that puts Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Spartan Kick to shame.