Highlights

• Assassin's Creed Shadows features two protagonists, including a female shinobi and African samurai, set in Feudal Japan.
• The game is set to be released on November 15, 2024.
• Fans can expect more information and possible gameplay footage to be revealed at an upcoming Ubisoft Forward livestream on June 10.

Ubisoft has officially revealed more information about Assassin’s Creed Shadows, namely the upcoming sequel’s two protagonists and release date. Fans had been hoping for an Assassin’s Creed game set in Feudal Japan for some time before Ubisoft announced the formerly-named Assassin’s Creed Red during the 2022 Ubisoft Forward livestream. In the years since, rumors and speculation about the game ran rampant, giving eager gamers a possible glimpse at the next installment in the historical action franchise.

These rumors suggested that Assassin’s Creed Red would have two playable heroes, a then-unnamed female shinobi and Yasuke, an African samurai and real-life historical figure who served Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period between 1581 and 1582. Earlier this week, Ubisoft revealed that Assassin’s Creed Red is officially titled Assassin’s Creed Shadows, with a cinematic trailer to be posted a few days later. Even before said trailer was revealed, rumor had it that Assassin’s Creed Shadows would be slated to launch on November 15.

At least some of the information present in these rumors has been confirmed in the Assassin’s Creed Shadows cinematic trailer, which was shared by Ubisoft earlier today. It begins with an unnamed Japanese nobleman being chased through the woods by a pair of assailants before flashing back to the backstories of said duo. The first is Naoe, the previously mentioned female shinobi whose family is killed by samurai. This sets her on a path of vengeance that eventually brings her into contact with Yasuke, who in this version was trained as a samurai to help in his master’s conquests before seemingly growing disillusioned during the attack on Naoe’s village.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Release Date

• November 15, 2024

The two confirmed Assassin’s Creed Shadows protagonists then decided to join forces, seemingly becoming a team of killers-for-hire as the trailer goes on. They are then shown attacking a samurai temple at night, and while no Assassin's Creed Shadows gameplay footage is featured viewers can get a sense of how each character will play in combat. Naoe seems to be more of a traditional Assassin’s Creed character, taking out her enemies using stealth, while Yasuke is more direct, attacking with brute strength and a massive spiked club.

Finally, the Assassin’s Creed Shadows trailer cuts back to the pair and their target from the beginning, who Naoe kills with a variant of the Assassin’s Hidden Blade after declaring that she and Yasuke are “shadows that serve the light,” a callback to one of the sayings of the Assassin Order. From there, the trailer cuts to the Assassin’s Creed Shadows title and confirms the previous rumors that the game will be released on November 15.

There is still much to be discovered about Assassin’s Creed Shadows before it launches later this year, but what has been shown so far looks promising. There will be a Ubisoft Forward livestream on June 10, and many believe that Ubisoft will show off gameplay footage for Assassin’s Creed Shadows at the event.