Backstory Behind Delayed Release of AC: Shadows. Devs Fought for It Long Before Star Wars Outlaws Launch

Source: Ubisoft.

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Insider Gaming journalist Tom Henderson has published a short but extremely informative article in which,citing his sources, he takes a closer look at the behind-the-scenes of Assassin's Creed: Shadows' delay and Ubisoft's return to releasing games on Steam at launch. Although it should be noted that we are dealing only with unconfirmed reports, they shed new light on the whole situation and lead to some far-reaching conclusions.

Assassin's Creed: Shadows - Alleged Reasons Behind Delayed Launch

1. The delay of AC: Shadows' premiere may have seemed unexpected to the players, but internally it was not only expected, but even "desperately needed".
2. Developers allegedly insisted on changing the release date for Assassin's Creed: Shadows by at least several months. Their comments, however, fell on deaf ears, at least until the release of Star Wars: Outlaws, after which Ubisoft announced that the new "Assassin" still requires "polishing and improving the game experience."
3. Ubisoft allegedly ignored developers' comments at almost every level. The answer to the question "why?" may be brought by the investigation conducted within the ranks of a French company. Tom Henderson, however, reported that 32 out of 40 creators, whose opinion he heard, are convinced that the investigation will end with no changes whatsoever or simply lead to layoffs.

Assassin's Creed: Shadows - Yasuke and Other Matters

1. Henderson once again assured that Yasuke will not be removed from Assassin's Creed: Shadows. Nevertheless, some information about him included in the game - historical, cultural etc. - are said to currently being changed, just like some architectural elements of Japanese buildings.
2. The journalist expressed surprise at this alleged situation, because, as he claims, these problems should have been detected much earlier, even before the game was announced, especially considering Ubisoft's rigorous approach to this issue. In an attempt to explain this unusual case, Henderson said that historians were brought into the project relatively late in the process. Misunderstandings between individual teams and cost cuts related to resource approval were also said to have been significant, which was allegedly dictated by the desire to meet deadlines.
3. There is no doubt about one thing – Assassin's Creed: Shadows needed more time, because due to numerous bugs the game is far from the state it should have been in at the time of release (recall that it was planned to be released on November 15, 2024). In addition to "ironing out" and "polishing", the developers are also expected to make changes to several mechanics, which will certainly take some time. Henderson, however, said nothing about a next delay.

Poor Sales of Star Wars: Outlaws

1. SW: Outlaws allegedly just hit the million-copy mark. We don't know what result the Ubisoft executives were expecting, but we can assume it was much greater, considering their dissatisfaction, the reputation of the Star Wars brand, and the fact that we're talking about a AAA game that was released a month ago.
2. Poor sales of Star Wars: Outlaws were supposed to influence the decision to return to releasing games on Steam the moment they officially debut, rather than a few months or years after. Interestingly, all of Ubisoft's development studios have reportedly been trying to push for this move for years.

Assassin's Creed: Hexe Remains in the Making

1. The journalist assured that other parts of the Assassin’s Creed series, including the promising installment codenamed Assassin’s Creed: Hexe, are still being developed and have not been hit by collateral.

Ironically, Henderson ended his argument on an optimistic note for Ubisoft. That's because, preorders of Assassin's Creed: Shadows are expected to enjoy great interest, which will likely increase even more as the game will be available at launch on Steam. This interest is allegedly smaller than in the case of AC: Valhalla, but still "solid".

Premiere of AC: Shadows is scheduled for February 14, 2025. The game will be released on PC, PS5 and XSX/S.