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Controversial Assassin's Creed Shadows was reportedly in no shape to release as reasons for game's delay surface

Assassin's Creed Shadows takes place in the 16th century feudal Japan. (Image source: Ubisoft)
Assassin's Creed Shadows takes place in the 16th century feudal Japan. (Image source: Ubisoft)
Originally slated to release on November 12, Ubisoft delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows to mid-February 2025. According to information that has emerged online, the AC Shadows delay is mainly to address bugs and improve historical/cultural accuracy.

The first gameplay footage of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a game that fans have been asking for years at this point, finally debuted in June 2024. However, the initial reveal caused quite a stir, especially in the Japanese gaming community. Japanese fans were outraged primarily regarding Yasuke, one of two AC Shadows protagonists, and the historical and cultural mistakes that Ubisoft had made.

Following the outcry, Ubisoft delayed Assassin’s Creed Shadows to February 2025. Insider Gaming now alleges that the decision to push the release date of the game back wasn’t made in a jiffy, as the developers had been imploring for a delay for a while.

Reasons behind Assassin’s Creed Shadows delay

Following the underwhelming reception of Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft reportedly didn’t want to risk another game not meeting sales expectations. So, the release date of Assassin’s Creed Shadows was pushed back to give the team more time to fix bugs and refine the overall gameplay experience.

Per Insider Gaming, Ubisoft is also looking to address the cultural and historical issues that were raised by the community following the initial reveal. These issues seemingly arose because of a strict development schedule which prompted cost-cutting. The studio also failed to bring in experts on time to ensure historical, cultural, and architectural accuracy.

Insider Gaming’s claim that Assassin’s Creed Shadows “is currently not at the stage it needs to be for release” is shared by PH Brazil. The leaker suggests that, currently, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is riddled with bugs. This apparently prompted Ubisoft to delay the game as the company didn’t want to release a buggy AC title.

On the topic of reception, PH Brazil also alleges that Ubisoft has internally set a sales target of 10 million for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ubisoft might end up reaching the sales target if it releases a stable title with minimal bugs, since the company is reportedly satisfied with the quality of the game.

All in all, it appears that Ubisoft delaying Assassin’s Creed Shadows for a few months has given the developers a much-needed breathing room. We hope that the developers utilize it well, resulting in a polished experience for the fans and not like the one we got with Star Wars Outlaws.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2024 10 > Controversial Assassin's Creed Shadows was reportedly in no shape to release as reasons for game's delay surface
Fawad Murtaza, 2024-10- 1 (Update: 2024-10- 1)