On February 24th, news broke of a significant leak affecting Assassin's Creed Shadows. Numerous individuals streamed the game online, a full month before its official March 20th release date.
The weekend saw further evidence of the leak, as reported by the GamingLeaksandRumours subreddit. Deleted social media posts revealed physical copies of the game being sold prematurely, alongside multiple unauthorized streams appearing on platforms like Twitch.
Ubisoft, the developer and publisher, acknowledged the leak on the Assassin's Creed subreddit, urging players to refrain from spoiling the experience for others. They stated that the development team is still applying final patches and that leaked footage doesn't reflect the game's final quality. The statement emphasized the detrimental effect of leaks on player anticipation and thanked the community for their efforts in mitigating spoilers. Ubisoft concluded by asking players to avoid spoilers and promised more official announcements in the coming weeks, leading up to the March 20th launch.
This leak adds to a series of setbacks for Ubisoft and the Assassin's Creed franchise. The team previously apologized for unauthorized use of a historical recreation group's flag and for inaccuracies in the game's depiction of Japan. Assassin's Creed Shadows' release date was initially November, then shifted to February 14th, and finally settled on March 20th. This delayed launch comes at a critical time for a struggling Ubisoft, facing underwhelming sales of recent titles and investor concerns. The game's success is now even more crucial for the company's performance.