Ubisoft has delayed Assassin’s Creed Shadows release by a few weeks. The open world stealth adventure was set to release on Valentine’s Day, February 14. The new release date is now March 20.
The announcement acknowledges that this isn’t the game’s first delay: “Since November, we’ve been thrilled to share our progress through Gameplay Overviews, and the overwhelming excitement has truly inspired us,” says developer Marc-Alexis Coté. “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.”
Assassin’s Creed Shadows now releases March 20, 2025. pic.twitter.com/wTPzY0oiHy
— Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) January 9, 2025
When first announced, Shadows had a November 2024 release date.
A lot is riding on the latest entry in one of gaming’s most popular franchises. Ubisoft has been suffering from declining sales and underperforming AAA games, including XDefiant, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Skull and Bones, and Star Wars Outlaws (which we loved). Dozens and hundred of employees have been laid off over the last two years, and ownership of the company is in turmoil.
Assassin’s Creed is Ubisoft’s biggest franchises, and they clearly need to get it right. A game’s release is increasingly a critical litmus test for their success, especially big budget games. And as we wrote about just earlier this week, February 2025 was absolutely stacked with big releases, including Monster Hunter Wild and Civilization 7.
Will Shadows be the smash hit that Ubisoft needs, or another mediocre death knell? We’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is rated M for Mature.
