Assassin’s Creed Shadows delayed again, Ubisoft cites ‘renewed focus on gameplay quality’
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Assassin’s Creed Shadows is now coming out on March 20, Ubisoft announced Thursday, the game’s second delay. Ubisoft says the additional month of development time for Assassin’s Creed Shadows will “allow the team to better incorporate the player feedback gathered over the past three months and help create the best conditions for launch.”
Ubisoft’s announcement of another delay for Assassin’s Creed Shadows — it was originally planned for a November 2024 release — is part of the publisher’s “renewed focus on gameplay quality and engaging Day-1 experiences.” Ubisoft is hoping that Shadows won’t repeat the launch issues of last summer’s Star Wars Outlaws, which developers scrambled to polish and fix after launch. Ubisoft said that Star Wars Outlaws was partially to blame — alongside the canceled XDefiant — for lower-than-expected sales during the holiday period.
The publisher’s pivot to gameplay quality and capable day-one performance is also part of Ubisoft’s strategy to, according to CEO Yves Guillemot, “reshape the Group in order to deliver best-in-class player experiences, enhance operational efficiency and maximize value creation.” In other words, as Ubisoft explores a potential sale and could become a private company, the game maker wants to make itself as financially attractive as possible.
To wit, Guillemot said in a statement, “We also recently appointed leading advisors and are actively exploring various strategic and capitalistic options to unlock the full value potential of our assets. We are convinced that there are several potential paths to generate value from Ubisoft’s assets and franchises.”
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. Probably in March, for real this time.
