Introduction
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a 2025 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft. It is the fourteenth major installment in the Assassin’s Creed series and the successor to Assassin’s Creed Mirage (2023). Set in 16th-century Japan towards the end of the Sengoku period, the game focuses on the millennia-old struggle between the Assassin Brotherhood, who fight for peace and liberty, and the Templar Order, who desire peace through control, from the perspective of two protagonists:
Fujibayashi Naoe, a kunoichi (a female shinobi), and Yasuke, an African samurai inspired by the historical figure of the same name. Initially starting out as adversaries, the two protagonists join forces to
investigate and dismantle a shadow group that is destabilizing Japan, while uncovering mysteries related to both the Assassins and Templars. Development of Shadows began in 2020, following the release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The game was first revealed in September 2022, under the working title Assassin’s Creed: Codename Red, followed by an official announcement in May 2024, which included a cinematic trailer and the first details about its story and gameplay.
Continuing to build upon the role-playing elements of previous installments, Shadows features a large open world based on Japan’s Kansai region, where players can focus on either advancing the main narrative or completing a variety of side activities. Emphasis is placed on each playable character’s unique strengths and weaknesses, with players having the option to switch between Naoe and Yasuke at will and significantly alter the way they approach missions.
Following its initial announcement, Shadows garnered criticism online due to the decision to feature a fictionalized version of Yasuke as one of the game’s main characters. This led to a wave of backlash and controversy that lasted until the game’s launch. After several delays, the game was released for Windows, macOS, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on March 20, 2025; a version for the Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch on December 2, 2025, while a port for iPadOS is also planned for a later date. Upon release, Shadows received generally positive reviews from critics and has sold over 5 million copies.
Gameplay
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an action role-playing game with an emphasis on each of its two playable characters’ unique skills. It is developed on an upgraded version of Anvil, using dynamic lighting and environmental interactions. Improvements include the addition of breakable objects and the ability to manipulate shadows and use a grappling hook for parkour.
The game’s open world, whose size is comparable to that of Assassin’s Creed Origins, progresses through seasons which can affect gameplay (for example, ponds and shallow bodies of water in which Naoe can submerge herself and hide, are frozen over in winter). Missions are non-linear, encouraging players to track and eliminate targets freely; in a change from previous games, vantage points exist to help the player look for points of interest, not to mark objectives. By default, Assassin’s Creed Shadows does not reveal the exact locations of targets or key NPCs, and the player must recruit and deploy scouts to narrow down their exact location based on clues given.
New gameplay features include the ability to go prone and crawl along the ground, helping the player avoid detection and pass through small openings. The character can venture into shallow water, breathing through a bamboo stick. Traditional ‘Eagle Vision‘ also makes a comeback for Naoe, allowing her to determine the locations of enemies and useful gameplay elements. Both Naoe and Yasuke can enter a new mode called “Observe,” a fast and easy way of gathering information about targets.
This mode is also available while crouching on high vantage points, enabling players to closely examine newly discovered places. Hiding in shadows makes Naoe invisible to her enemies, both indoors and outdoors, so players may choose to destroy lit lanterns with shurikens. Moving while crouching enables the player to move silently across creaking nightingale floors.
Players can switch between characters as they progress through missions. A diverse selection of historically accurate weapons is available, from katanas and the kanabō war club, to polearms such as the naginata, thrown weapons such as shurikens and kunai, ranged weapons such as the yumi bow and teppo matchlock rifle, and the kusarigama. Each weapon comes with its own skill tree, enabling players to improve their proficiency. Both characters have distinctly different playstyles. Players can choose to take a stealthy, agile approach as Naoe, or charge headlong into combat as Yasuke.
Naoe has access to three main weapons: the katana (held in a reverse grip), the kusarigama, and the tantō dagger, which she dual-wields alongside her Hidden Blade. Naoe’s Hidden Blade can pivot, allowing her to hold it in an icepick grip. She can also use throwables that can deal damage, put out light sources, sabotage alarm systems, or distract and hinde enemies. Naoe is also skilled in parkour, able to climb most in-game structures on her own, or with aid from a grappling hook. She also has an
agile style of combat, which includes dodging enemy strikes, deflecting enemy attacks into counters, and vaulting over enemies to strike them at their most vulnerable. Yasuke has access to five main weapons. He starts out with a long katana, and eventually gains access to the naginata and kanabo as secondary melee weapons. Yasuke is also deadly from a distance with the yumi bow and the teppo. Though not as skilled as Naoe in parkour, Yasuke
makes up for it by having a larger health pool. He can also parry attacks, standing his ground and deflecting the enemy’s blows to open up for a counter-offensive, and makes the most of his superior size and strength against his opponents by kicking and charging into them.
Synopsis
Setting
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set in feudal Japan, specifically starting in 1579 during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. This era marks the final stage of the Sengoku period, a time of intense civil war in Japan. The game features the historical figure Oda Nobunaga at the height of his power, following his victory over the Takeda clan using arquebus firearms. Key historical events include Nobunaga’s assault on the Iga province in 1581,
A significant battle involves the Iga ikki, known for their ninjutsu arts. Like previous Assassin’s Creed titles, characters based on historical figures are present in the game, including the samurai Yasuke, one of the two playable characters, missionaries Luís Fróis and Alessandro Valignano, samurai Hattori Hanzo, Akechi Mitsuhide, and Ise Sadaoki, the sōhei Kyōnyo, merchants Imai Sōkun and Imai Sōkyū, and tea master Sen no Rikyū, among others.
The game world covers the Kansai region of central Japan, including locations like Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, and the Iga province, with historically accurate castles such as Takeda and Fukuchiyama, along with detailed historical landmarks and strongholds designed as intricate dungeons. This setting reflects the urbanization of Japan at the time, featuring bustling ports, samurai districts, and ornate architecture, all significant for parkour and exploration in the game. The influence of Portuguese
traders and Jesuit missionaries, who introduced Christianity and new technologies like cannons and long guns to Japan, also plays a role in shaping the game’s environment and narrative.
Plot
In 1581, the African slave Diogo arrives in Kyoto alongside a delegation of Jesuit priests, who seek to negotiate with daimyo Oda Nobunaga for the safe passage of their missionaries throughout Japan. Nobunaga grants the request on the condition that Diogo be transferred into his service. Diogo, renamed Yasuke, begins training to become a samurai and, six months later, accompanies Nobunaga on his invasion of Iga Province to exterminate the shinobi of the Iga ikki. During the battle, the young
Shinobi Fujibayashi Naoe is tasked by her father Nagato to take his Hidden Blade and recover a box hidden in a nearby kofun, which she must protect at all costs. However, Naoe is ambushed by a masked samurai, who injures her and takes the box. Nagato rescues her, and after recovering, Naoe tracks down the masked samurai, assassinates him, and recovers the box. As she escapes, Naoe is shot and cornered by the masked samurai’s comrades, who seize the box. Nagato quickly comes to her aid but is mortally wounded by one of the masked men, who leave with the box. With his dying breath, Nagato instructs Naoe to “follow the blade.”
After recovering from her wounds months later, Naoe, seeking revenge on her father’s killers and to recover the stolen box, visits Tomiko, an old family friend. Tomiko grants Naoe usage of her homestead as a base to gather supplies and allies, and directs her to Sakai. There, Naoe finds leads to the whereabouts of two of the masked killers and assassinates them both. She is then approached by Akechi Mitsuhide, who identifies Oda Nobunaga as the leader of the group, called the Shinbakufu, and enlists
Naoe helps to eliminate him. She infiltrates the Honnō-ji Temple and confronts Nobunaga, who reveals that Mitsuhide lied to her and that he is not part of the Shinbakufu. With Mitsuhide’s army closing in, Nobunaga elects to commit seppuku with Yasuke’s help while Naoe escapes.
Now a rōnin, Yasuke, seeking a new purpose, approaches Naoe and asks to join her. He reveals that, during the invasion of Iga, he fought and killed the Iga ikki‘s leader, Momochi Sandayu, who also wielded a Hidden Blade and urged him to help Naoe if he found her. Naoe initially refuses to forgive Yasuke for partaking in Nobunaga’s atoricties, but is told by her young ally Junjiro that the masked samurai she had killed was his father. With Junjiro having learned to forgive Naoe for her actions, Naoe agrees to give Yasuke a chance to make amends.
Development
Assassin’s Creed Shadows was announced at Ubisoft Forward in September 2022 under the working title Assassin’s Creed: Codename Red along with its planned successor Assassin’s Creed: Codename Hexe. There, Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed would be entering a third period related to shifts in design philosophy and approaches to future games, all connected by a working concept called Assassin’s Creed Infinity (later renamed to the Animus Hub). The first major gameplay details were
The first major gameplay details were announced on May 15, 2024, along with the final name and release date. It was later revealed that Ubisoft Quebec, who previously developed Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, would be developing the game. Development began in 2020, following the release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Shadows is the first game in the series to be aimed at the ninth generation of video game consoles (PlayStation 5 and
Xbox Series X/S), dropping support for the eighth generation consoles (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One). Lead producer Karl Onnée said the hardware available in the newer consoles was necessary to support the new version of their engine that supplies effects like light, shadows, and dynamic weather.
Marketing and release
Assassin’s Creed Shadows was initially scheduled to release for iPadOS, macOS, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on November 15, 2024. In September 2024, Ubisoft announced that, despite the game being feature complete, they opted to delay the release to February 14, 2025, for further polishing, citing insights gained from the Star Wars Outlaws launch in August. The company also cancelled the game’s season pass and refunded existing pre-orders, with future pre-
Orders were set to include the first expansion for free. In a shift from Ubisoft’s previous release practices, the PC version would launch simultaneously on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Ubisoft Connect. In January 2025, Ubisoft postponed the release once again to March 20, as the company explored its sale options and to provide developers with more time to implement additional changes.
In February 2025, Ubisoft stated that pre-orders for the game were in line with those of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the series’ second best-selling game. In that same month, it was reported that physical copies of the game for PlayStation 5 leaked.
A few months before the initial release date, All Elite Wrestling collaborated with Ubisoft to promote their game at All In 2024, with wrestler Will Ospreay having a special entrance featuring ninja-inspired choreography. The following year, at All In 2025, Ospreay had another special entrance inspired by the game, once again featuring a crowd of ninja-inspired extras. Shadows was released for macOS, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on March 20, 2025. For the promotion of the game on March 26, 2025, Ubisoft partnered with Lofi Girl.
Claws of Awaji, the first paid downloadable content pack for the game, was released on September 16, 2025. Set on Awaji Island, the DLC pack includes new gear and abilities, as well as a 10-hour story campaign. This expansion pack was developed by Ubisoft Bordeaux.
Awards
Assassin’s Creed Shadows was nominated for the Most Wanted Game at the Golden Joystick Awards 2024, as well as for Best Visual Design and Best Game Expansion at the Golden Joystick Awards in 2025. At The Game Awards 2025, the game was nominated for Innovation in Accessibility.
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