Assassin's Creed Shadows' recent delay may be a necessary evil

Summary

Ubisoft has delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows twice to refine gameplay based on player feedback.
There are quite a few big game releases in February 2025, making March 20 a better release date for AC Shadows.
By postponing to March, the game distances itself from the tough competition and improves its chances of success.

It's not uncommon for AAA games to be delayed these days, and that's especially true for highly controversial titles like Assassin's Creed Shadows. However, Assassin's Creed Shadows is a slightly different story than most, in that it faced almost insurmountable criticism, even though the setting and gameplay would otherwise have been just that to many Assassin's Creed Fans have been dreaming of this for a long time. Because of this criticism Assassin's Creed Shadows was already delayed once, moving its release date from November 15, 2024 to February 14, 2025, and now it's been delayed again, with a new release date of March 20, 2025.

According to Ubisoft, the reason for this delay is so that the studio can focus more on refinement Assassin's Creed Shadows' Gameplay by continually incorporating player feedback. While this will benefit the game's quality in the long run, it's still a bit of a disappointment for those who have been waiting a long time for the release. Assassin's Creed ShadowsQuality isn't the only thing that could benefit from the latest delay either, as the new release date could help avoid a release window known for seeing an unprecedented number of major titles all released in the same month this year.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Stealth Parkour

Assassin's Creed Shadows' new parkour mechanics are a natural evolution of its premise

Assassin's Creed Shadows introduces a wealth of new parkour features, all tied to the game's overarching premise.

Assassin's Creed Shadows' recent delay could work in its favor

February 2025 is full of big titles

It's now common knowledge in the gaming industry that February 2025 will be one of the biggest release dates in video game history, and this has previously been highlighted even more clearly by… Assassin's Creed Shadows' Addition to the cast after the first delay. Although 2023 was one of the biggest years in gaming, it has been a long time since a single month was so full of highly anticipated titles, and most of them were AAA titles.

The biggest titles launching in February 2025 are as follows:

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (February 4th)
Civilization 7 (February 11)
Date anything! (February 14)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak 2 (February 14)
Explained (February 18)
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (February 21)
Monster Hunter Wilds (February 28)

While each of these games largely appeals to a very different audience, this also means that the biggest game releases in February 2025 cover a wide variety of genres, from open-world RPG to RTS to action-adventure. When all is said and done, were Assassin's Creed Shadows With release still scheduled for February 14th, it could be completely outnumbered, especially given the controversy it drowned in before its release.

Assassin's Creed Shadows' latest delay sets it apart from the competition

Delaying a game once or even twice to ensure quality is one thing, and a perfectly reasonable explanation for why a studio might choose to do this. However, Assassin's Creed ShadowsThe latest delay almost kills two birds with one stone, not only giving Ubisoft more time to focus on implementing player feedback and refining its gameplay, but also effectively distancing it from many of 2025's biggest releases. There are over a dozen games coming out in March, but none of them pose that much of a threat Assassin's Creed Shadows like the ones coming to market in February. As such is what is to come Assassin's Creed The game's new release date of March 20th might be a necessary evil.

Of course there are no guarantees for this Assassin's Creed Shadows will not be delayed again as Ubisoft refocuses on the quality of gameplay and day one experience. It's clear that Ubisoft is doing everything it can to encourage a more positive reception Assassin's Creed Shadows than the developer's latest games could achieve. For now, fans will have to wait until the third week of March to see how everything plays out, and hopefully they won't have to wait any longer.