2025’s Biggest Flop May Not Be Assassin’s Creed Shadows But Another Game Xbox Desperately Needs to Be a Hit

It’s fair to say that Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ reveal was one of the biggest disasters in Ubisoft’s history. Gamers were already tired of the company’s overused formula, and when they saw that the next Assassin’s Creed game was plagued with historical accuracy and gameplay issues, they rightfully hated it.

For the first time, Ubisoft heard the community and decided to delay the game to fix everything that was a matter of concern. What’s even more shocking is that recently, Ubisoft revealed that Shadows has been delayed again. All of these delays scream that the game might be the biggest failure of 2025, but there’s another Xbox title that might steal the crown.

Avowed might be a bigger flop than Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Considering the fact that Obsidian Entertainment is the same studio that gave us Fallout: New Vegas, there’s no surprise that gamers can’t wait to get their hands on the studio’s next project, Avowed.

Set in the same universe as the Pillars of Eternity series, the RPG takes gamers to the Living Lands of Eora, where they must unravel a mysterious plague that’s known as Dream Scourge. Based on what we’ve been shown so far, the title looks to be packed with content for players to jump into with expansive words, characters, and gameplay mechanics.

Avowed was actually supposed to be released in the Fall of 2025 but was pushed back to February 2025 after Obsidian stated that it needed more time to polish its next RPG and balance the number of releases on the Game Pass. Xbox has been projecting the game as its next biggest hit, but few in the community aren’t convinced.

When Obsidian first gave us a look at Avowed with a CGI trailer, it seemed like the game would follow the route of the industry’s best with a dark, gritty art style. However, in 2023, gameplay footage completely switched up things and presented a more colorful artistic direction. This change hasn’t sat well with many in the community, as they believe that RPGs can’t function in such an environment.

Avowed made another appearance at Xbox Direct in January 2024, and the negative buzz surrounding the title resurged. Players felt that the game’s first-person combat looked quite rough, and the melee combat system was flat and unresponsive. This is quite disappointing since the RPG’s entire selling point is the combat system.

Considering all the negative reception around the RPG even before it hit the shelves, many believe that it would be another Titanfall-like failure for Xbox, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows doesn’t have anything to worry about.

Ubisoft is trying to save Assassin’s Creed Shadows

While it’s unclear how Assassin’s Creed Shadows will turn out to be considered with two separate delays, Ubisoft is still promising that the title will shatter all expectations upon release and has given us a better look at the game.

A brand-new article on the French publisher’s official website details how locating new places and unraveling the open-world will work. The article gives us new information about Shadows‘ environment, which is supposed to put more focus on player driven exploration.

A new glimpse into our next Open World 👀

Learn more about the exploration in #AssassinsCreedShadows in this new gameplay overview article 👉 pic.twitter.com/WCaNwnLUd5

— Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) January 17, 2025

It’s just like how icons worked in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla that encouraged gamers to go out and explore by filling the map with a number of unknown landmarks and rewarding them. However, it looks like Shadows will bring multiple new mechanics, as well as how viewpoints function.

Shadows is also planning to change how the eagle mechanic functions, which is now being removed for player-driven scouting. This will push gamers to locate vantage points to keep an eye on enemy movements on their own.

With that said, do you think the Obsidian RPG will fail harder than Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Let us know in the comments below.