Assassin's Creed Shadows Delayed Until February, First Expansion Free For Pre-Orders
Ubisoft has announced Assassin's Creed Shadows' shift to a February 14, 2025 release date just two months out from its originally planned arrival.
Posted 3 months ago
Assassin's Creed Shadows will now launch on February 14, 2025 after a last-minute delay from Ubisoft, with the game originally set to debut in November.
The game's original November 12 release date has been changed to allow "additional time to further polish the title," according to a statement from the publisher today.
With its new launch date, Assassin's Creed Shadows will now arrive simultaneously on consoles and Steam – a newly announced platform for the game – with a day one PC release targeted for all other releases from the publisher going forward.
Assassin's Creed Shadows
Release Date: February 14, 2025
In further details included in an update to Ubisoft's financial targets for the fiscal year, Shadows will also be moving away from the Season Pass model that Ubisoft has furnished several of its recent single-player AAA releases with. All existing pre-orders will be refunded and all players will have access to the game at the same time, suggesting an end to the three-day-early advantage of Ultimate Edition pre-orders. All new pre-orders from today will instead be granted the planned first expansion for free.
"While the game is feature complete, the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title," Ubisoft's statement announcing the delay says. "This will enable the biggest entry in the franchise to fully deliver on its ambition, notably by fulfilling the promise of our dual protagonist adventure, with Naoe and Yasuke bringing two very different gameplay styles."
The move away from established monetization models, coupled with the first mention of Outlaws from within the publisher, is the first indication that the Star Wars cinematic RPG has failed to live up to sales expectations – despite mostly positive reviews. Outlaws will now be positioned as the replacement for Ubisoft's Holiday season earner with a PC version available through Steam on November 21.
What Chris thought...
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"If you have even the slightest beat of a cantina drum in your heart, then Outlaws is the experience you have been waiting for. To walk around and have your own adventure in a galaxy far, far away. What a treat."
Ubisoft said: "In response to player feedback, Ubisoft's development teams are currently fully mobilized to swiftly implement a series of updates to polish and improve the player experience in order to engage a large audience during the holiday season to position Star Wars Outlaws as a strong long-term performer. The game will be available on Steam on 21st November."
The delay also comes just after Ubisoft's latest update on Shadows, which focused on the tech used to bring Japan's feudal era to next-gen consoles.
If you're a little upset not to be settling into that world over the holidays this year, then maybe a little mini-doc about that world tech with the game's art director will help soothe that sting. We had a chat with Thierry Dansereau at Gamescom this year, when we thought the game was mere months away.