Assassin’s Creed Shadows Development Troubles Detailed in New Report

Key Takeaways

• Ubisoft Quebec developers have reportedly been asking for an Assassin’s Creed Shadows delay for months before their requests were granted.
• The game’s 3-month delay will be used not just for fixing bugs, but also for changing some of its story aspects and mechanics, a new report claims.
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows pre-order numbers are said to be “solid,” but still below AC Valhalla’s.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows developers have been trying to get the game delayed for months until Ubisoft finally relented, according to a new report from a well-known industry insider. The same source also provided some additional insights into the ongoing development troubles of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

The upcoming game has been in development since late 2018, according to several LinkedIn profiles of Ubisoft Quebec employees. And while the company originally committed to a November 15 release date for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it subsequently announced a three-month delay in late September 2024. Ubisoft cited a desire to spend more time on polishing the game as the main reason for the postponement.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Devs Have Reportedly Spent Months Asking for a Delay

A new report from Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson has now shed some additional light on the circumstances surrounding this turn of events, claiming that Ubisoft Quebec developers have spent the last several months trying to get Assassin’s Creed Shadows delayed. But their requests were only granted after Star Wars Outlaws underperformed sales expectations and was criticized for a variety of technical issues. Aside from ironing out bugs, Ubisoft Quebec intends to use the extra three months it was given for the development to address some “cultural and historical accuracy concerns” that the Japanese community raised about the game, the report states, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Ubisoft Is Reportedly Changing Some of Yasuke’s Story in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

As part of these efforts, the developers are reportedly planning to change bits of Yasuke’s story and the way he’s portrayed in the game, Henderson claims. Revising certain architectural details and reviewing Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ overall portrayal of its historical setting are also on the studio’s newly expanded agenda, as per the same source. Although some of these items would ordinarily be completed much earlier during development, Ubisoft reportedly involved historical experts and consultants in Assassin’s Creed Shadows later than usual, given the project’s ambitious scope.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Pre-Order Numbers Are Reportedly Below Valhalla’s

Aside from addressing historical accuracy concerns, the delay is also meant to give Ubisoft Quebec more time to revise some of the game’s mechanics, Henderson claims. In terms of pre-release commercial performance, the insider’s latest report saw him reiterate his prior claim that Assassin’s Creed Shadows pre-order numbers are “solid.” Be that as it may, they still haven’t matched those of Valhalla, possibly because the 2020 entry was a cross-gen title that was consequently available to a significantly larger (console) audience.

Aside from delaying the next mainline entry in its flagship franchise, Ubisoft recently also announced an internal probe into its struggles. The company said that the investigation is geared toward identifying ways in which it could improve its game development practices.