The upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which has sparked heated debates among fans even before its release, continues to be a topic of intense discussion. After the game was postponed until next year, Ubisoft stated that additional polishing was necessary to ensure the project’s quality. However, new revelations might raise even more concerns among its fanbase.
At the recent XDS24 fireside keynote, Assassin’s Creed series executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté disclosed that half of the team working on Assassin’s Creed Shadows has never worked in game development before.
Marc-Alexis Côté stated:
One of the things that I’ve noticed since the pandemic is that we have a lot of juniors in our teams. Probably half the team that’s building Assassin’s Creed is building a game for the first time.
Update: Added the bold for context and adjusted the wording from Côté.
Moreover, Côté mentioned that the game’s internal evaluation is not encouraging: the team currently considers Shadows the worst thing they have seen. For what that means in terms of development or the game regarding the series was not explained. This was stated in the video at the 46:49 mark where Côté shares “half the team that’s building an Assassin’s Creed is building a game for the first for the first time so they don’t know. So you have to explain to them that even though they’re playing the game right now and they think it’s the worst thing they’ve ever seen it’s going to be good okay we’re going to get there and explain that I’ve been there as a leader.”
Despite these concerns, Ubisoft is sticking to its strategy of giving young talent a chance to shine. However, many fans remain apprehensive about entrusting such a high-profile project to relatively inexperienced developers.
How Assassin’s Creed Shadows will ultimately turn out remains to be seen, as the combination of fresh talent and significant challenges presents both an opportunity and a risk for the franchise’s future.
Watch the full XDS24 fireside keynote here:
