Ubisoft Cancels Assassin’s Creed Shadows Early Access

If Assassin’s Creed Shadows had stayed on schedule, it would have been released in just under a month. Instead, Shadows was pushed back to an early 2025 release. Now, players who purchase the Assassin’s Creed Shadows collector’s edition won’t be getting early access to the game.

As reported by Insider Gaming, Ubisoft confirmed the cancelation of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ early access during a Discord Q&A session. The company also reiterated it will not be moving forward with its plans of implementing season passes. Consequently, the price of Assassin’s Creed Shadows collector’s edition will be dropping from $280 to $230. The collector’s edition will still come with a steelbook, an artbook, a statue, and more. However, there may be additional changes to those products before the final release.

The report indicates that these late changes may “be inspired by the issues Ubisoft has had thus far maintaining historical accuracy and cultural representation.” That was one of the given reasons for the game’s delay in a previous report, in addition to a request from Shadows’ developer Ubisoft Quebec to have more time to polish the game before its release.

Additionally, there’s been word that Ubisoft Quebec may be adding a co-op mode to Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Presumably this will allow two players to fight side-by-side as the game’s dual protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke. But given the delay of the game, that feature may not be ready by launch.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will hit PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on February 14, 2025.