Assassin's Creed Shadows suffers yet another delay as "additional weeks are needed" to deliver polished gameplay

Just a day after teasing us with a preview of the Assassin's Creed Shadows parkour systems, Ubisoft has seemingly delayed the embattled RPG once more. This time, the developer has pushed back the launch to March 20, 2025, upon which date Assassin's Creed Shadows will launch on PC, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5 consoles. 

This delay comes after Ubisoft already delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows by several months in November 2024, following severe backlash over historical inaccuracies and some unsavoury imagery used in promotional material for the game. 

In the announcement of this most recent delay, Ubisoft cites needing more development time in order to deliver a quality game on day one: 

"Since November, we’ve been thrilled to share our progress through Gameplay Overviews, and the overwhelming excitement has truly inspired us. Each week has brought valuable feedback from our community. While we’ve already made remarkable strides, we believe a few additional weeks are needed to implement that feedback and ensure an even more ambitious and engaging day-one experience.

Accordingly, the new release date is March 20, 2025. We remain committed to delivering a high-quality, immersive experience—fostered by ongoing dialogue between our players and development teams." – Vice President Executive Producer, Assassin's Creed at Ubisoft

On the one hand, this move has stoked some scepticism among players, who have already lost some faith in Ubisoft over the last few months. Not only has Ubisoft had to push back the launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, but the studio also cancelled Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and shut down its live-service game, XDefiant, after less than a year on the market. 

We recently also reported on a gaming insider who claims that Ubisoft's future success reportedly hinges on the success of the Assassin's Creed franchise. This, and the gaming industry's reputation for developer crunch, could explain why Ubisoft has decided to delay Assassin's Creed Shadows once more. Additionally, the seeming last-minute switch-up in launch strategies — moving to a simultaneous launch as opposed to a timed console exclusive — could also be responsible for extra development and QC work being placed on the Assassin's Creed team, which would inevitably result in delays. 

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