Assassin's Creed Archives - Dot Esports

After months of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows previews, Ubisoft has shared with fans of the franchise that the series’ newest title set in Feudal Japan has been delayed to early 2025.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post published today, Marc-Alexis Côté, Ubisoft vice president and executive producer of Assassin’s Creed, said the game will now be releasing Feb. 14, 2025. The statement also informed anyone who pre-ordered the game that they will receive a refund, and all future pre-orders for the first expansion will be granted for free.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has seemingly been criticized by anyone who is bothered to talk about the game. Joining the choir is popular streamer and YouTuber Asmongold, who gave Ubisoft’s upcoming title the most damning of reviews.

Asmongold isn’t one to shy away from sharing his opinion on anything gaming-related, so it was only a matter of time for Assassin’s Creed Shadows to come up. The content creator shared his unflattering thoughts on the double-protagonist action-stealth mashup.

The newest trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows has provided more details about Ubisoft’s latest entry in the franchise—and fans have mixed reactions surrounding a series staple.

The new trailer sheds light on the game’s most notable feature: the ability to switch between two protagonists, the melee-centric Yasuke and the stealthy assassin Naoe. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is not the only game in the franchise to feature dual protagonists, but it’s the first to limit or change gameplay features depending on your current character.

Assassin’s Creed Unity, Ubisoft’s 2024 open-world stealth action game, has seen an increase in player numbers since the Paris Olympics started on July 26. The increase is likely due to the Olympics taking place in the same city as AC Unity, albeit with a few centuries in between.

As spotted by PCGamesN, Unity‘s player population and sales have seen a bump on Steam Charts since the Olympics started. On July 26, Unity had 729 players, but that number has steadily risen since and it’s reached a 24-hour peak player count of 2,219 (as of Aug. 2)

The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics kicked off today with the usual fanfare: pyrotechnics, live performances, and, uh, a guy in an Assassin’s Creed get-up running the Olympic torch across the rooftops of Paris.

It’s been nearly a decade since Assassin’s Creed Unity took players to the streets of France for some revolutionary parkour-and-murder shenanigans. But that sure didn’t stop what very much looked like a tribute to the game and its French developer, Ubisoft, taking center stage at the Olympics opening ceremony today.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft’s upcoming entry to the 17-year-old franchise, has seen a ton of controversy since its announcement. The recent hike in interest and criticism for the game within Japan itself prompted Ubisoft to react and issue an apology, promising to fix historical inaccuracies.

The developer posted the full apology on X (formerly Twitter) today, July 23. Ubisoft clarified how it “put significant effort” into creating an “immersive and respectful” model of feudal Japan in which AC Shadows will take place. However, it also said how the Assassin’s Creed games were never meant to be historical sources but rather inspiration for players to take an interest in the settings themselves and explore them on their own. During development “some elements” shown in trailers and promos have “caused concern” with the Japanese people, Ubisoft wrote and formally apologized, vowing to “keep evolving” the game up to its release in November.

Controversy isn’t leaving Ubisoft’s back as the petition to cancel Assassin’s Creed Shadows is growing stronger with over 50,000 signatures.

This petition at Change.org (translated by Google) charges Assassin’s Creed Shadows for “cultural disrespect” over its black Samurai co-protagonist Yasuke. It goes so far as to paint it as “a serious insult to Japanese culture and history” and prophesies that the game “can lead to racism in Asia.”

More Assassin’s Creed games are on the way from Ubisoft, but not all of them are going to be new releases.

In a recent interview with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, the future of the Assassin’s Creed franchise was the main topic of discussion. While hyping up the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows and talking about how evolving technology and gameplay variety will shape future releases, Guillemot briefly said remakes of some older Assassin’s Creed games are in the works.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows presented players with a golden opportunity to voice an NPC through a promotional event unveiled on Tuesday, but the fans aren’t pleased.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ developer Ubisoft launched a marketing campaign called the Dubbing Challenge on TikTok, giving fans a unique chance to voice a secondary NPC to immortalize their voice in the game forever. The prize also includes a fully sponsored trip to London with a professional vocal coach and a recording session.

One of the playable characters in Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be an African samurai named Yasuke. Elon Musk made questionable comments about the character, which prompted a reaction from one of Ubisoft developers.

On May 24, the CEO of X (formerly Twitter) responded to a thread about diversity in gaming. The author claimed Ubisoft is under heavy backlash “over the game’s [Assassin’s Creed Shadows] injection of DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion],” and that it’s “so thoroughly woke that it features a black gay protagonist.” In response, Musk said “DEI kills art,” which led to Ubisoft speaking out.