After years of waiting, Ubisoft has finally announced it is ready to show off more of its upcoming Assassin’s Creed, originally codenamed Assassin’s Creed Codename Red. Gaming journalist Jeff Grubb first leaked this title during a podcast, and it was eventually confirmed by Ubisoft during the Ubisoft Forward September 2022 event. It’s an ambitious title that fans of the series have been looking forward to, as this will be the game that will finally take place in Feudal Japan. It has been given an official name, Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
On May 15, 2024, at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET, Ubisoft will host an event that will show the world the first look (if you don’t consider the 30-seconds we saw of the game back in 2022) its first look at Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Assassin's Creed Codename Red becomes Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Tune-in for the Official Cinematic World Premiere Trailer on May 15, 9 AM PT.#AssassinsCreedShadows pic.twitter.com/xc1Q10N4Vh— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) May 13, 2024
This game is a big deal, as fans of the series have been asking Ubisoft to take the game to Japan for years. After multiple games that have taken place in Feudal Japan, such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Nioh, Ghost of the Tsushima, and more recently, Rise of the Ronin, I suppose Ubisoft figured now would be a great time to reveal its hand finally. And I can’t wait. I’m among the many who’ve wanted an Assassin’s Creed in Japan.
So, what took Ubisoft so long? According to an article written by Ubisoft, the developer was primed to make a game in Japan and was doing its history homework to prepare for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. They were aware of players’ high expectations for this particular title and wanted to be sure they’d get it done correctly.
I feel we now have the expertise and the knowledge to tackle a subject that is more difficult to address,” Côté admitted. “Yes, we’ve wanted to do Japan before, but I think the teams have reached a level of maturity in the way they research history that allows them to approach this culture that’s very different from our own in a way that will feel true to both the culture and to the way we approach settings in Assassin’s Creed. We really feel that this is a setting and a culture that we need to nail. We need to have an absolutely exceptional product. Given the high expectations that people have, and that I’ve always had, I feel we have the team, we have the knowledge, we have the research structure to be able to support an exceptional-quality product.”
In reading this, I feel like this title has been developing for some time. Ubisoft was waiting and watching the other titles that were somewhat similar to their upcoming title, seeing what worked, what didn’t, and how Ubisoft could capitalize on both.
With this upcoming event on May 15, 2023, we’ll finally get to see what Ubisoft has been working on and, if we’re lucky, a release date.
