They say quality brings long-term success, while speed provides quick market entry. But there are times when you have to balance both, and Ubisoft, the iconic video game publisher, is trying to make these two things work for its upcoming video game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Many fans who bought the game’s collector’s edition to gain the early access slated for November 2024 have been disappointed. In a Question & Answer session on Discord, Ubisoft said that the game’s early access plan has been canceled and shifted to February 2025.
In the best online casino news today, we explain why they decided to delay the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows and what it means for players.
Reasons for the Release Delay of Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an open-world game set in 16th-century Japan, tracing back to the Sengoku period. This action-adventure will be released on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. The video game centers around two characters in the history of feudal Japan: the African samurai Yasuke and the female shinobi Naoe, who are the game’s protagonists.
Ubisoft announced some time ago that the game’s collector’s edition would be released on November 12, 2024, while the standard edition for regular players would follow three days later. But now, it won’t be released until February 14, 2025, and the plan for early access for collector’s edition buyers has been canceled.
According to Ubisoft, the collector’s edition price will drop by $50 from $280 to $230. However, the promise of a statue, an art book, a steel book, and other incentives for the premium purchase still holds. Some changes might be made at launch, though.
Remember you can always check out what types of games we have in our casino games section.
Catching Historical Issues
There are many reasons for this to have happened, besides trying to balance every little thing involved.
Accurately Presenting History and Culture
Ubisoft wanted to address how it portrays Japan’s amazing history and culture in Assassin’s Creed Shadows to ensure accurate representation. For instance, the team needs to work on Yasuke’s story.
Ubisoft could have caught these issues before they revealed the game. But the company reportedly didn’t bring in historical experts early enough. On arrival, these experts were able to pinpoint the portrayal of harmful stereotypes or misinterpreted elements of Japanese history. So, Ubisoft, sensitive enough to this issue, created the time to polish the story for better historical representation.
Now, these historians are guiding the game’s narration and character development.
Lessons Learned From the Release of Star Wars Outlaws
The Ubisoft development team had been pushing for an extension of the Assassin’s Creed Shadows release date, but the bosses wanted a November release. However, after the team published their most recent game, Star Wars Outlaws (August 30, 2024), they agreed to extend the release date by three months.
Ubisoft had high expectations for Star Wars Outlaws’s performance. However, it was a surprise when the game didn’t do well in the market. Some players reported experiencing frustrating purchases and gameplay. Some claimed they had to relaunch the game several times because of bugs and frequent crashes.
The feedback affected the sale of the game; just over 1 million units were sold. Star Wars Outlaws received a 76% rating on Metacritic, a 65% rating on OpenCritic, and an average user score of 5.4 out of 10. This statistic is way below what Ubisoft expected. So, to avoid repeating the same record, the publisher has taken time to review Assassin’s Creed Shadows and tick every necessary detail, to adequately curate its games.
The Uncertain Co-Op Mode
The developers of Assassin’s Creed Shadows hinted at incorporating a co-op mode in the game. In this mode, you can team up with a second player as the dual protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke. Together, as a role-playing player, you can face the game’s challenges.
Interestingly, only a few games in the Creed series have a co-op mode. So, adding this feature to Assassin’s Creed Shadows would make it stand out, though no one is sure about its availability at the game’s launch.
In a Nutshell…
The holdback in releasing Assassin’s Creed Shadows may have frustrated some players. However, you will agree that, knowing the reasons presented above, it was necessary to ensure the series’ quality was maintained and improved. Ubisoft surely learned a great deal from Star Wars Outlaws.
Subscribe to our social media feed to stay in the know!
