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Assassin's Creed Shadows

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Assassin's Creed Shadows
Systems
Top Critic Avg: 81/100 Critics Rec: 82%
Released
March 20, 2025
ESRB
Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
Developer(s)
Ubisoft Quebec
Publisher(s)
Ubisoft
Engine
AnvilNext

Set during Japan’s Sengoku period, two distinct protagonists—Naoe, a shinobi, and Yasuke, a historical African samurai—must navigate political intrigue and violent clashes between the Assassins and Templars. Players can switch between stealthy, shadow-based gameplay with Naoe and Yasuke’s direct combat approach, exploring the duality of their missions in a beautifully rendered open world​.

Franchise
Assassin's Creed
ESRB
Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language

latest

Assassin's Creed Shadows Claws Of Awaji Key Art
The First Big DLC For Assassin's Creed Shadows Might Not Have What Fans Want

Assassin's Creed Shadows' first DLC expansion is targeting a September release, but it will not contain the co-op mode for the game.

Naoe crouched next to Yasuke from Assassin's Creed Shadows with Gustave and Maelle from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on their right and Kai and Giatta from Avowed on their left.
Assassin's Creed Could Learn From 2025's Best RPG To Fix Shadows' Biggest Problem

Assassin’s Creed has a lot to learn, especially after Shadows, and it should look to 2025’s best RPG for some much-needed gameplay inspiration.

Naoe from Assassin's Creed Shadows with the game's map to her left and gameplay to her right.
Assassin's Creed Shadows' Worst Mechanic Should Actually Be Used In More Open-World Games

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has a number of controversial mechanics, but one of them should absolutely be used in more open-world games.

Yasuke from Assassin's Creed Shadows smiling with castles behind him.
Assassin's Creed Shadows Fixes One Of My Biggest Gaming Pet Peeves, But There's Still Room For Improvement

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has fixed one of the most annoying aspects of modern open-world games, but it could still do a whole lot better.

Yasuke and Naoe In Assassin's Creed Shadows with parkour in the back
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ New Update Plan Has Me Excited About Parkour Again

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is getting a big parkour update, but will it be enough to compete with the series’ best iterations of the parkour system?

Yasuke and Naoie from AC Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows Year 1 Roap: All Confirmed Updates Explained

Assassin's Creed: Shadows has a massive amount of entirely free content on the way, offering plenty of incentives to revisit feudal Japan once more.

Assassin's Creed Shadows naoe with yasuke petting a dog.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Reveals Roap With New Parkour, Story Content, & New Game Plus

Ubisoft has released a roap for new content and features coming to Assassin’s Creed Shadows in its first year of post-launch .

Yasuke and Naoe with weapons in Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Might Bring Back Beloved PvP Multiplayer, According To Datamine

A datamine has revealed that PvP multiplayer was planned or may be in development for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, bringing back a beloved mode.

Nintendo Switch 2 with a pink and blue background. 
A Top-Selling Game Of 2025 Might Make Its Way To Switch 2, Rating Suggests

According to a rating update on the PEGI website, one of 2025’s best-selling games will be ported to the Nintendo Switch 2 console.

AC Shadows Naoe next to Lady Oichi
Next Assassin's Creed Shadows Update Could Easily Fix My Biggest Frustration

Assassin's Creed Shadows is missing one key feature that wouldn't require complex programming or game design overhauls to add in the future.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows Yasuke next to the Switch 2
Assassin’s Creed Shadows On Switch 2 Sounds So Much Better & So Much Worse

Fitting Feudal Japan into a portable device would be equal parts amazing and underwhelming, and the design of the game highlights both extremes.

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AC Shadows Naoe Himeji Castle
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Becomes Best-Selling Game Three Weeks In A Row, Follows Monster Hunter Wilds In 2025’s Bestsellers

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has continued to be a hit, being the best-selling game for a third straight week, and becoming one of the year’s bestsellers.

Naoe and Yasuke fighting with their signature weapons in Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ DLC Might Make Me Want To Play Yasuke Even Less

Naoe is getting some new tools in the Assassin’s Creed Shadows DLC Claws of Awaji, which gives her a major advantage over Yasuke.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows key art
Watch The Real-Life Naoe And Yasuke From Assassin's Creed Shadows Sword Fight

In a new video posted by actor and YouTube content creator, Toru Uchikado, the Assassin's Creed Shadows stars fight with swords in real life.

Yasuke and Naoe from Assassin's Creed Shadows in front of a Death Stranding landscape
I’m More Annoyed By Assassin’s Creed Shadows Exploration After Revisiting A 2019 GOTY Contender

Traversal in Assassin's Creed Shadows can occasionally feel tedious, but one game that slows things down further actually makes it more exciting.

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Kay Vess from Star Wars Outlaws next to Yasuke praying in Assassin's Creed Shadows and a Skull and Bones character.
After Playing Assassin's Creed Shadows, I Think We May Have Been Unfair To Another Ubisoft Game

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ many strengths and few failures have made me realize that one of Ubisoft’s maligned games isn’t as bad as people say.

15
Assassin's Creed Shadows Image Showing Two Samurai On Horseback
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Patch 1.0.2 Brings Back Its Most Necessary Feature

Assassin's Creed Shadows patch 1.0.2 has a ton of bug fixes and improvements, and horse auto-follow has made its inevitable and much-needed comeback.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows Screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows Is Getting A PS5 Pro Upgrade And More In An Update

Assassin's Creed Shadows received a major update that brings a PS5 Pro the game's visuals, as well as several player-requested features.

Mitsuhide and Yasuke AC Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows Boss Fights Highlight The Game's Biggest Weakness

Assassin's Creed Shadows can be fun as both Yasuke and Naoe, but things don't work out quite the same in the game's main story boss fights.

Naoe and Jin From Assassin's Creed Shadows and Ghost Of Tsushima playing musical instruments.
5 Ways Assassin’s Creed Shadows Is Better Than Ghost Of Tsushima (& 5 Ways Ghost Of Tsushima Still Wins)

There are many ways in which Assassin’s Creed Shadows is significantly better than Ghost of Tsushima, and a few were it absolutely isn’t.

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