Yet again, the upcoming Ubisoft game Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed by an additional month. Due out on February 14th of this year, the stealth action title is now set to release on March 20th. This is the second delay that the game has received since it was announced during the Summer of 2024, with its initial release date set for November 12th, 2024.
In a state meant by the company, it was stated
As part of the renewed focus on gameplay quality and engaging Day-1 experiences, it has been decided to provide an additional month of development to Assassin’s Creed Shadows
This additional time will allow the team to better incorporate the player feedback gathered over the past three months and help create the best conditions for launch by continuing to engage closely with the increasingly positive Assassin’s Creed community. The game is now scheduled for March 20.
Additionally, Ubisoft boss Yzes Guillemot stated:
we are all behind our teams’ efforts to create the most ambitious Assassin’s Creed opus of the franchise and made the decision to provide an extra month of development to Shadows in order to better incorporate the player feedback gathered over the past three months that will enable us to fully deliver on the potential of the game and finish the year on a strong note.
It is important to note that this delay comes at a turbulent period for Ubisoft, with the studio clearly putting a lot of emphasis on trying to stick the landing when the title is released. Previously last year, their major title Star Wars Outlaws failed to meet sales expectations of an open-world action game set in the Star Wars Universe.
Additionally, the long-awaited pirate live service game Skull & Bones, which spent 10 years in development, failed to make a splash as well, with shooter title XDefiant also being discontinued after less than a year. Even titles from the publisher that performed critically well such as Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown appear to have failed to make the desired impact financially.
Ubisoft saw its shares fall to their lowest point in the last decade back in September, which is closely coinciding with its announcement of the underperformance of several games. Coinciding with the news of this announcement, Ubisoft has announced a new Strategic update. They described it as:
leading advisors to review and pursue various transformational strategic and capitalistic options to extract the best value for stakeholders.
This process will be overseen by the independent members of the Board of Directors. Ubisoft will inform the market in accordance with applicable regulations if and once a transaction materializes.
This delay also comes during rumors that Ubisoft is looking to Chinese publisher Tencent to buyout their entire company. This talks are rumored to be at an impasse currently as the Guillemot family attempts to negotiate their retained control of Ubisoft under a Tencent buyout. All of this can easily factor into why Ubisoft feels the need to take extra care of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, hoping to get it right.
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