Ubisoft has detailed its plans for the future of Assassin’s Creed, and said it is already winding down support for last year’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Later this month, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will celebrate its first anniversary — but it sounds like a muted affair, with a community livestream, a competition, and not a lot else.
Today’s update from the new Assassin’s Creed leadership team makes it clear that Shadows will not receive any major new content additions in future, following earlier confirmation that there would be no second expansion similar to last fall’s Claws of Awaji. It’s a disappointing end for Shadows, which has limped to the end of its first year of post-launch support and offered fans only a fraction of the continued adventures afforded to the franchise’s previous blockbuster, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
“As we reach this [first anniversary] milestone, Shadows will be moving into its final phase of support,” Ubisoft said. “We’re winding things down with smaller, less frequent updates… but still a few surprises! At the same time, our teams will begin shifting more focus toward what’s next for Assassin’s Creed.”
Fans already have a fair idea what’s next for the series, though today brought a reminder of that. In terms of scope, the next big all-new Assassin’s Creed game is Codename Hexe, which will be set in mainland Europe and feature witchcraft-esque vibes. Until last month, the project was being overseen by Ubisoft veteran Clint Hocking — though following the brand’s leadership reshuffle it is now being managed directly by Assassin’s Creed head of content Jean Guesdon, with Hocking now out of the company again.
“We are taking the time to deliver on its ambitious vision, which means we’ll be quiet for a while longer,” Ubisoft said today, setting expectations that the game was still a while from launch. “We love seeing all the enthusiasm happening on our channels and can’t wait to unveil more when the time is right.”
The company has not confirmed it, but fans suspect Hexe was one of the many projects to receive a delay in January this year, at the same time Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake was cancelled.
A flurry of other brief updates provided a reminder that Ubisoft has plenty of other Assassin’s Creed things in the works, though without any firm news on any of them today. The multiplayer-focused Codename Invictus, announced years ago alongside Hexe, is still “progressing steadily with a test and learn approach,” Ubisoft said, “led by a dedicated team of For Honor veterans.”
“We understand there’s a lot of curiosity around this project: yes, it’s a new approach to multiplayer in the franchise, but it isn’t quite what the rumors have suggested,” Ubisoft continued. “With player feedback at the heart of our approach, we’re exploring ways to bring the community in earlier so we can shape the experience together.”
Separately, Ubisoft acknowledged it was investigating “bringing co-op back to Assassin’s Creed” and “recently chose to pivot away from an early project.” This was, reportedly, a co-op idea that would have continued Shadows’ story, which sadly sounds like it will no longer see the light of day.
In terms of what you can play today, Ubisoft announced a 60fps patch for the French Revolution-set Assassin’s Creed Unity would arrive imminently for Xbox and PlayStation.
Wrapping up, Ubisoft namedropped the Ancient China-set smartphone game Assassin’s Creed Jade (which again was announced years ago, with nothing heard of it now in a long time) and the Assassin’s Creed live-action Netflix series (which sounds like we’ll see something concrete of soon, following recent casting announcements). Lastly, Ubisoft dropped yet another hint at Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake that everyone knows is set to launch this year.
“Some whispers have a little more wind in their sales,” Ubisoft teased, just weeks after seemingly confirming the Black Flag remake was real via a GTA meme on social media. “Keep your spyglass on the horizon.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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