Assassin's Creed Shadows

• 1. Introduction

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  Assassin's Creed Shadows is the fourteenth major game in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series, released in 2025 as the follow-up to Assassin's Creed Mirage. It sends players to 16th-century Japan, near the end of the Sengoku period, and hands them not one hero but two. The first is Fujibayashi Naoe, a kunoichi, which is the word for a female shinobi. The second is Yasuke, an African samurai inspired by a historical figure of the same name. Almost from the moment these two were shown, the game became a subject of heated argument online. This documentary asks how two very different characters can share a single adventure. It asks what story pulls them through a country torn apart by civil war. And it asks how the game fared once players finally had it in their hands.

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• 2. Two Ways To Play

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  Yasuke is the answer for players who want to charge headlong into combat, while Naoe rewards a stealthy and agile approach. Missions are non-linear, and players can switch between the two characters as they move through a mission. Quests can therefore be tackled in several different ways.

  Naoe's toolkit leans on darkness. Hiding in shadows makes her invisible to enemies, indoors and outdoors, so a player might throw shurikens to smash lit lanterns. Moving while crouching lets her cross creaking nightingale floors in silence. The series' traditional Eagle Vision returns for her, revealing enemies and useful objects. She can also slip into shallow water and breathe through a bamboo stick.

  The seasons change what the world allows. In winter, the ponds and shallow water where Naoe would normally submerge and hide are frozen over. The open world is comparable in size to the one in Assassin's Creed Origins.

  Finding a target takes real work. By default, the game does not reveal the exact location of targets or key characters. Players recruit and deploy scouts, then narrow down a position from the clues they bring back. Vantage points now help players spot points of interest instead of marking objectives. Both characters can also use a new mode called Observe, which gathers information on targets quickly, including while crouching on a high vantage point.

  Movement has expanded too. Players can go prone and crawl along the ground to avoid detection or squeeze through small openings. A grappling hook joins the parkour options. The game runs on an upgraded version of the Anvil engine, with dynamic lighting, breakable objects and the ability to manipulate shadows.

  The arsenal draws on historically accurate weapons. Katanas and the kanabō war club sit beside polearms such as the naginata. Shurikens and kunai are thrown weapons, the yumi bow and the teppo matchlock rifle fire from range, and the kusarigama is also on offer. Each weapon carries its own skill tree, so mastery is earned one weapon at a time.

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• 3. Feudal Japan

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  In 1579, Oda Nobunaga stands at the height of his power, fresh from defeating the Takeda clan with arquebus firearms. That is where the game begins, in the Azuchi-Momoyama period, the final stage of the Sengoku period and a time of intense civil war. The story later reaches Nobunaga's assault on Iga province in 1581, a clash involving the Iga ikki, a group known for its ninjutsu arts.

  As in earlier Assassin's Creed games, real people populate the world. Yasuke is one of them. Others include the missionaries Luís Fróis and Alessandro Valignano, and the samurai Hattori Hanzo, Akechi Mitsuhide and Ise Sadaoki. The merchants Imai Sōkun and Imai Sōkyū appear, and so does the tea master Sen no Rikyū.

  The map covers the Kansai region of central Japan, including Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka and Iga province. Historically accurate castles such as Takeda and Fukuchiyama stand among detailed landmarks and strongholds, which double as intricate dungeons. Bustling ports, samurai districts and ornate architecture reflect how urban Japan was becoming, and all of it is built for parkour and exploration. Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries also leave their mark, having brought Christianity, cannons and long guns to the country.

  Behind these historical figures runs the series' oldest conflict. The Assassin Brotherhood fights for peace and liberty, while the Templar Order wants peace through control. The game places that millennia-old struggle in Nobunaga's Japan and lets two outsiders to each other's worlds fight it together.

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• 4. Follow The Blade

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  In 1581, an enslaved African man named Diogo arrives in Kyoto with a delegation of Jesuit priests. They want Nobunaga to guarantee their missionaries safe passage across Japan. He agrees on one condition: Diogo must enter his service. Renamed Yasuke, the young man trains as a samurai. Six months later, he accompanies Nobunaga into Iga Province to wipe out the shinobi of the Iga ikki.

  During that invasion, the young shinobi Fujibayashi Naoe is given an order by her father, Nagato. She must carry his Hidden Blade to a nearby kofun, a burial mound, and recover a box hidden there. A masked samurai ambushes her, wounds her and takes the box. After Nagato rescues her, Naoe tracks the thief down, assassinates him and reclaims the box. On her escape, she is shot and cornered by his comrades, who seize it again. Nagato is mortally wounded in the fight, and the masked men leave with the box. With his dying breath, he tells her to "follow the blade."

  Naoe's search for revenge leads first to Tomiko, an old family friend. Tomiko offers her homestead as a base and points Naoe toward Sakai. There, Naoe finds leads on two of the masked killers and assassinates both. Akechi Mitsuhide then approaches her, names Nobunaga as head of the group, called the Shinbakufu, and asks for help eliminating him. Inside Honnō-ji Temple, Nobunaga tells Naoe that Mitsuhide has lied and that he is no part of the Shinbakufu. Mitsuhide's army is closing in, so Nobunaga chooses seppuku, with Yasuke's help, while Naoe escapes.

  Yasuke, now a rōnin, asks to join her. He explains that in Iga he killed the Iga ikki's leader, Momochi Sandayu, who also wielded a Hidden Blade. Sandayu urged him to help Naoe if he ever found her. Naoe at first refuses to forgive him for taking part in the assault. Then her young ally Junjiro tells her that the masked samurai she killed was his father. Because Junjiro has learned to forgive her, Naoe gives Yasuke a chance to make amends.

  Together, the pair hunt down more of the Shinbakufu. Along the way they meet Tokugawa Ieyasu, a former retainer of Nobunaga, and Hattori Hanzō, an erstwhile member of the Iga ikki. Hanzō tells Naoe to forget the box, saying both her father and her mother, Tsuyu, died protecting it. When she will not back down, he sends her to a kofun in Settsu. There she finds an Assassin hideout and a journal. It reveals that Emperor Go-Nara had tasked the Assassins with building a new Brotherhood in Japan, and Tsuyu was one of them. Naoe, Yasuke, Tomiko and Junjiro then form the Kakushiba ikki, the League of the Hidden Blade.

  At the Battle of Yamazaki, the pair join Hashiba Hideyoshi's army as it besieges Shōryūji Castle, where Mitsuhide has taken refuge. Dying, Mitsuhide names the Shinbakufu's leader: Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the former shōgun, who wanted his power back after Nobunaga dethroned him. Hideyoshi claims victory and promises to reform Japan as Nobunaga's successor, and Naoe warns him to keep that promise. Yoshiaki offers the stolen box and information in exchange for his life. He reveals that the box is one of three, each holding one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan. He adds that the Templar Order backed the Shinbakufu, that a Templar named Kimura Kei is recruiting in Kii, and that an Assassin matching Tsuyu's description was seen in Yamato.

  Naoe spares Yoshiaki, and she and Yasuke split up to follow the leads. In Yamato, Naoe recalls the story Nagato once told her. Years earlier, the Assassins under Tsuyu guarded the regalia until the Shinbakufu massacred them. Tsuyu saved one regalia and gave it to Nagato, then left to search for the others and never came back. Naoe finds the hiding place the Assassins had intended and returns her box there, keeping her promise to her father. Hanzō arrives with the second box, which Ieyasu took back from the Templars. He confesses that he betrayed the Assassins out of jealousy, because Tsuyu chose Nagato over him, and that he sold the regalia's location to the Shinbakufu. Naoe forgives him and offers him a chance to correct his mistake by helping her find Tsuyu, whom both believe is still alive.

  Meanwhile, Yasuke kills Kimura Kei and Duarte de Melo, the Portuguese Templar and slaver he once served. He then confronts Nuno Caro, leader of the Templar Order in Japan. Caro had killed Yasuke's mother years before, suspecting her of being a spy, and Yasuke himself escaped only because an Assassin created a distraction. As Caro dies, Yasuke proclaims his new identity as a member of the Kakushiba ikki and declares war on the Templars.

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• 5. Claws Of Awaji

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  Hanzō's lead points to Awaji Island, which is firmly ruled by the Sanzoku Ippa, a group of outlaws affiliated with the Templars. The expansion pack Claws of Awaji, the game's first paid downloadable addition, tells this story. It was developed by Ubisoft Bordeaux, released on the 16th of September 2025, and adds new gear and abilities along with a 10-hour story campaign.

  On the island, Naoe finds her mother. Kimura Yukari, daughter of Kimura Kei, has held Tsuyu captive for years, hoping to learn where the final Imperial Regalia is hidden. Tsuyu had stolen it and hidden it from the Templars. Yukari then reveals that she lured Naoe to Awaji, believing a threat to her daughter's life would finally make Tsuyu talk. Learning of Naoe's predicament, Yasuke mounts a rescue and frees both women, though Tsuyu is wounded in the escape.

  Tsuyu is in no condition to fight, so she reluctantly tells Naoe and Yasuke where the regalia is hidden. The Sanzoku Ippa ambush the pair and steal it, and only a timely distraction from Hanzō saves them. To reach Yukari, Naoe and Yasuke set out to weaken the outlaws' grip on the island by eliminating her three lieutenants: Imagawa Tomeji, Nowaki and Yasuhira. Their success inspires the people of Awaji to revolt. Naoe, Yasuke and Hanzō then lead an assault on Yukari's stronghold at Iwaya Castle, while Tsuyu goes to recover the regalia.

  Yasuke duels Yukari, who scolds him for his past service to Nobunaga and for his new loyalty to the Kakushiba ikki. She claims he follows a path set by others rather than forging his own destiny. Yasuke kills her. Naoe, meanwhile, rescues Tsuyu after Yukari's soldiers attack her during her escape with the regalia. Tsuyu accepts that her days as a warrior have passed and decides to become the mother Naoe never had. The trio resolve to return the Imperial Regalia to the Emperor. Tsuyu then leaves for Iga, urging Naoe to spend time with Yasuke and Junjiro, her new family.

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• 6. Building Shadows

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  Ubisoft announced the project at Ubisoft Forward in September 2022 under the working title Assassin's Creed: Codename Red. A planned successor, Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe, was announced alongside it. The company said the series was entering a third period, marked by shifts in design philosophy and in how future games would be approached. A working concept called Assassin's Creed Infinity, later renamed the Animus Hub, was meant to connect them all.

  Work on the game had begun in 2020, after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Ubisoft Quebec, which had previously developed Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Assassin's Creed Syndicate, was later revealed as the developer. The first major gameplay details arrived on the 15th of May 2024, together with the final name and a release date.

  Lead producer Karl Onnée explained one hard technical choice. Shadows is the first game in the series aimed at the ninth generation of consoles, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and it dropped support for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In his account, the newer hardware was needed to run the new version of the engine, which supplies effects like light, shadows and dynamic weather.

  The price tag was substantial. Chief executive Yves Guillemot said at a financial meeting that Ubisoft does not disclose production or final costs. He did confirm that expenses on Shadows exceeded €100 million, or $116 million.

  The schedule slipped more than once. The game was first set for the 15th of November 2024, on iPadOS, macOS, PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S. In September 2024, Ubisoft moved it to the 14th of February 2025. The game was feature complete, but the company wanted more polish, citing lessons from the launch of Star Wars Outlaws in August. Ubisoft also cancelled the season pass and refunded existing pre-orders, with future pre-orders including the first expansion for free. In a change from earlier practice, the PC version would launch on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Connect at the same time.

  In January 2025, Ubisoft postponed the game again, to the 20th of March. The company was exploring its sale options at the time and wanted to give developers more time for additional changes.

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• 7. Storm Of Criticism

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  When the premiere trailer appeared, the decision to make Yasuke a central character prompted criticism online. Some fans on social media and conservative critics objected to a Black samurai protagonist in place of an indigenous Japanese one. They accused Ubisoft of "going woke" or said Yasuke was "not a 'real' samurai." Others pointed out that Ubisoft had never made a game with a male East Asian protagonist.

  The backlash grew into harassment and threats aimed at the developers. Sachi Schmidt-Hori, an associate professor of Japanese culture at Dartmouth College, had helped Ubisoft review the game's dialog for accuracy. She became a target, though she was able to fend off some attacks herself. Several commentators, including Laurence Russell of Wired, compared the campaign to Gamergate and the alt-right. Elon Musk attacked the game and Ubisoft for "woke" content, claiming that "DEI kills art" and naming Yasuke's inclusion as offensive. Ubisoft replied that Musk's comments were "just feeding hatred" and that the team was focused on making a game, not pushing politics.

  Ubisoft defended its choice. Game director Charles Benoit said Yasuke let players discover Japan as he does, "through his eyes, the eyes of a foreigner". Matt Kim of IGN praised the decision as a way to stand apart from other samurai games with Asian protagonists. The scholar Thomas Lockley defended the portrayal too, saying no reputable Japanese historian had questioned Yasuke's status as a samurai.

  The fallout reportedly reached further. In part because of the criticism, Ubisoft is said to have cancelled another Assassin's Creed game in 2024. It was set during the American Civil War, with a Black protagonist who escaped slavery, joined the Assassins and fought groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Just before Shadows launched, Ubisoft offered its developers guidance and resources on their social media accounts and on handling harassment.

  Separate concerns came from Japan. In January 2025, the Computer Entertainment Rating Organization gave the game its CERO Z rating, which legally limits sale to adults, citing gore such as body dismemberment. The international release includes an in-game toggle for gore. Ubisoft said it was working on a Japan-specific version with no toggle and no gore, aiming for a less strict rating.

  Cultural sensitivity became a second flashpoint. A collectible figure promoting the game used a design similar to the damaged, one-legged torii gate of the Sannō Shrine in Nagasaki, less than a mile from the epicenter of the nuclear bombing. It was pulled from sale after claims of insensitivity. Then, in February 2025, leaked footage showed Yasuke entering the Itatehyōzu Shrine and destroying its altar. Shrine officials said they had not been consulted and would take "appropriate action" against the game. After complaints from Hiroyuki Kada of the House of Councillors and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Ubisoft removed the ability to destroy certain objects inside temples. It also reduced the blood shed by NPCs in the game's shrines and temples.

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• 8. Critics And Players

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  Pre-orders were already strong by February 2025. Ubisoft said they matched those of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the series' second best-selling game. That same month, physical PlayStation 5 copies were reported to have leaked.

  The marketing reached into wrestling. A few months before the first planned release date, All Elite Wrestling teamed with Ubisoft at All In 2024, where the wrestler Will Ospreay made a special ninja-inspired entrance. He returned with another game-inspired entrance and a crowd of ninja-style extras at All In 2025.

  Shadows reached macOS, PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S on its release date. On the 26th of March 2025, Ubisoft partnered with Lofi Girl to promote it. On the 27th of May 2025, crossovers with Balatro and Dead by Daylight added cosmetic items and a new quest. A Nintendo Switch 2 version followed on the 2nd of December 2025, and an iPadOS version is planned for later.

  Reviews were generally positive. The aggregator Metacritic described them as generally favorable, and 82% of critics on OpenCritic recommended the game. In Japan, four critics at Famitsu gave it a combined 36 out of 40.

  Individual verdicts varied. Tom Phillips of Eurogamer wrote that the game honors the beauty of feudal Japan, even if its strongest moments belong to the personal stories of its two leads. Jordan Middler of Video Game Chronicles called it the best Assassin's Creed game in 10 years. Morgan Park of PC Gamer, by contrast, criticized a dull story and a bland cast. Andrew Brown of GamesRadar+ liked the dual protagonists but found the story too vague to use either character fully.

  The sales picture was strong. Ubisoft said the game passed a million players on its release date and three million within a week. On Steam, concurrent players peaked at 41,412 on launch day and 64,825 over the first weekend, the highest for any Assassin's Creed game to date. Ubisoft's report for the fiscal year ending the 31st of March 2025 said it outperformed Odyssey in what players spent. It also had the second-highest day-one sales revenue in the franchise, behind only Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

  Market trackers measured it against the year's biggest releases. Circana ranked it the best-selling game of March 2025 in the United States. It was second for the year as of April, behind Monster Hunter Wilds and ahead of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. By July, it had slipped to third, behind both of those games and ahead of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. GfK said it had the largest physical launch of 2025 in the United Kingdom. Newzoo ranked it the second highest-grossing game across six major markets in March, behind only Fortnite. GSD put it as Europe's best-selling new PC and console release of 2025 as of July, and second overall behind EA Sports FC 25.

  Not every analyst accepted the player counts at face value. Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics noted that Ubisoft reported 2 million players by March 2025, but PlayStation 5 and Steam data from the first two days suggested only about half came from sales. The rest appeared to come from subscription services. Ubisoft's mid-2025 results then put the game past 5 million players by July, in line with expectations, and its report for the half-year ending the 30th of September 2025 called it overperforming.

  The game also appears in major award listings. They include the Golden Joystick Awards, the App Store Awards for best macOS game, and The Game Awards for innovation in accessibility. The D.I.C.E. Awards list it for outstanding technical achievement, and the British Academy Games Awards for animation. The iPadOS version, part of the plan since the original 2024 schedule, is still waiting for a release date.

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