Last week was clearly not one of any postponement on the side ofUbisoftwho after canceling his program for the Tokyo Game Show 2024 immediately announced the postponement of Assassin’s Creed Shadows from November 15, 2024 to February 14, 2025. One of the reasons given is the need to have more time to refine this episode in Japan and according to the always well-informed Tom Henderson when it comes to the license, it would clearly be for the best. Indeed, he reports from his sources that pushing back the game would have been a strong internal request from the developers of the project for several months alreadya situation that would even be reported to other studios in the company. If those responsible have apparently turned a deaf ear until recent days, it is the launch of Star Wars Outlaws which would have finally made things happen…
This title developed by Massive Entertainment has only just exceeded one million copies sold, setting off alarm bells for the publisher who would therefore have reacted by allowing this postponement and finally putting it back on sale day one his games on Steam. Again, this would be a request that every development team had been trying to support for years. Just from these few lines, you will undoubtedly have understood that the big problem would come from the executive, as all too often…
To return to Assassin’s Creed Shadowsthe article clarifies the obvious, namely that Yasuke obviously not going to be removed. In any case, it was not in three months that such a radical change could have been made, even less to satisfy a certain population of noisy players on the Web. At some point, we should perhaps understand that the characters and situations ofAssassin’s Creed are purely fictional (even when they actually existed) and are very freely inspired by what historians know. Whether the narrative choices please or not afterwards is another matter, but it is only at the release that we will be able to fully judge. On this subject, historical experts would not have intervened until much later than usual for such a projectwith concerns of poor communication between teams and savings made during the validation processassets in order to meet deadlines. Obviously, by imposing deadlines that are too short and cutting back on budgets, you should not expect everything to go well.
Certain very real inaccuracies would have been noted even before the reveal of the game in Mayespecially when playtests external, and the numerous returns coming from the Internet, but certain elements would therefore have slipped through the cracks for the reasons already mentioned. At any rate, so there should be some changes regarding the story of Yasuke and the way it is representedbut these are undoubtedly details, as for architecture. The team would also like to ensure that the game is well anchored historically while ensuring that it fits into the universe ofAssassin’s Creed. Nothing new under the sun on this side.
Finally, the game is not currently at a stage of its development where it would be ready for release, hence the need and request for a postponement. In other words, without Star Wars Outlawswe would undoubtedly have been treated to a poorly finished product full of bugs at launch. Some adjustments to mechanics gameplay should, however, take time to be integrated. Let’s hope that three months are enough, even if we shouldn’t turn a blind eye, there will inevitably be more or less minor problems which will require patches over the months as with all previous episodes.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows therefore seems to have a lot of pressure on its shoulders, but its pre-orders would have been quite solid for a title releasing only on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. To see if the postponement will have a negative impact on this subject, but the launch on Steam should help attract more players.
You can still pre-order it on Amazon priced at €69.99.
See also: Assassin’s Creed Shadows lets us taste the atmosphere of its open world in video
| Alexandre SAMSON (Omega Law) Editor | ||
| Addicted to Assassin’s Creed and Destiny, big fan of RPGs and passionate about video game experiences in general. Reader of comics (DC) and various mangas (One Piece!). Chemist by training and Whovian at heart. | ||
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