Assassin's Creed Shadows will lay the foundation for a new modern day story after years of Ubisoft struggling to match the interest in Desmond's storyline from the original Assassin's Creed games.
Marc-Alexis Coté, Ubisoft's vice president executive producer of Assassin's Creed, said at a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) event attended by Eurogamer that Ubisoft has "struggled to find its footing" with the modern day aspect of Assassin's Creed in recent years.
"Desmond's journey was at the heart of the modern day conflict driving the search for powerful Isu artefacts, Pieces of Eden, that could change the course of history," Coté said. "However, with his death at the end of Assassin's Creed 3, we faced a creative crossroads. Ending Desmond's arc was a difficult decision, and afterward, the modern storyline struggled to find its footing."
Assassin's Creed 3 arrived in 2012, however, so Coté had admitted the franchise has struggled to find a strong modern day story in more than a decade. This has certainly been a point of frustration for fans over the years, some of whom have complained the modern day storyline has no real direction and only detracts from the main game.
Mainline Assassin's Creed Games in Chronological Order
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Assassin's Creed Shadows looks to return some direction to the franchise though. "As we move forward, our goal is to put history back at the centre of the players' experience," Coté said. "The modern day narrative will serve to enhance, rather than overshadow, the historical journey.
"By drawing meaningful contrast between past and present, we aim to restore the balance that was once the hallmark of the franchise. The modern day storyline will explore deeper themes of memory, identity and autonomy, how the past shapes who we are, and how controlling this past can impact our future. These themes will allow us to reflect on contemporary issues: freedom versus control, the power of knowledge and the tension between individuality and conformity, all through the lens of history.
"The groundwork for this new direction will take shape with Assassin's Creed Shadows, which will lay the foundation for this narrative evolution that will grow in the years to come."
This will likely be welcome news for fans and is perhaps the first bit of positivity to emerge around Shadows in a while. Issues began as some fans expressed frustration with inaccuracies in the game's depiction of Japan, leading the development team to issue an apology and say the game is not intended to be a factual representation of history but instead "a compelling, historical fiction." This despite art director Thierry Dansereau telling IGN that Ubisoft looked to make Shadows as "authentic as possible to match historical events" just two months prior.
The groundwork for this new direction will take shape with Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Concern was also raised when the developer used a flag from a Japanese historical re-enactment group in artwork for Assassin's Creed Shadows without permission. Ubisoft apologized for doing so but refused to remove the artwork from the aforementioned and presumably already printed artbook available in the Collector's Edition. The historical re-enactment group said this was not good enough, but Ubisoft hasn't publicly acknowledged it since.
Yet another controversy came as collectible figure maker PureArts removed an Assassin's Creed Shadows statue from sale over its "insensitive" design.
All this comes as fans are already frustrated by the delay to the game, which puts Assassin's Creed Shadows in more direct competition with PlayStation's Ghost of Tsushima sequel, Ghost of Yotei. This is also expected in 2025 and is another open-world action adventure game set in Feudal Japan.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot maintained confidence, however. "There's a lot of space for very high-quality games, and those two games can sell very well," he said in the company's latest earnings call. "The focus is to really make sure that we deliver a fantastic experience with this dual protagonist approach and two different and complimentary gameplays."
Assassins Creed Shadows indeed features two protagonists, stealthy assassin Naoe and savage samurai Yasuke. The game's story will weave between the two but players can otherwise switch between them at will as they explore Ubisoft's open-world take on Japan.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.