Ubisoft just delayed Assassin’s Creed Shadows again

Another Assassin's Creed Shadows delay has just been issued by Ubisoft so that the upcoming RPG can "fully deliver on its potential."

After being hit with one delay that moved it out of last winter to this February, Ubisoft has now revealed that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is being delayed once again. While not as big a pushback this time around, the delay follows the conclusion of Ubisoft’s “strategic and execution reviews” which it hopes will help reverse its streak of poorly-performing games.

Set to be another huge open-world game in the series, this time set in feudal Japan, Assassin’s Creed Shadows feels increasingly like a make or break game for Ubisoft. Skull and Bones has failed to make an impression, Star Wars Outlaws undersold and disappointed many players, and its fun but struggling FPS game XDefiant is no longer on sale and will be shutting down fully in June.

Shadows needs to be a success, and the majority of players were understanding of the first delay, which resulted in a new Assassin’s Creed Shadows release date of February 14. However, as more games have confirmed their own launch plans, February has quickly become a very busy and crowded month. Shadows has found itself sandwiched between Civilization 7, Monster Hunter Wilds, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, Avowed, and more.

In a statement released by Ubisoft today, it doesn’t give February’s crowded slate as a reason, but I can’t help but feel it’s a factor. Instead, it says “an additional month of development” has been granted to the team behind 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 new launch date for Assassin’s Creed Shadows is now Thursday, March 20.

“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 [financial] year on a strong note,” says Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft’s CEO.

For more on the new AC game, check out all of the confirmed Assassin’s Creed Shadows voice actors so far in our cast list. Alternatively, here are some of the best stealth games and best RPGs around to get you in the mood.

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