'We Actually Got It Out the Door!' — Assassin's Creed Shadows Art Director Looks Back on Its Impact One Year Later

Ubisoft is taking a moment to look back on the impact of Assassin's Creed Shadows, marking one full year since the samurai-themed hit first launched.

Shadows debuted exactly 12 months ago today, after experiencing a notable delay and several controversies before release. The game later received a significant expansion last autumn, followed by a Switch 2 version just before the holidays. However, earlier this month, Ubisoft announced it was shifting focus away from the title, choosing to concentrate on upcoming Assassin's Creed projects instead of offering extensive support for a second year.

During an event celebrating the game's first anniversary, Shadows art director Thierry Dansereau shared with IGN that he feels a sense of accomplishment about the release. He emphasized that the technological innovations from Shadows will positively influence future entries in the series.

"I'm proud that we shipped the game!" Dansereau told IGN. "I was at DICE recently, and every developer agrees that getting any game out the door is a minor miracle. It's a tough task, and with Assassin's Creed, there are so many people involved—it's truly a team effort."

"The legacy, I believe, is that we pushed boundaries in several areas: we enhanced parkour and stealth mechanics. We also advanced certain combat elements. Across all systems, we introduced a lot of technology into the game that I think will become a foundation for future AC titles." Dansereau highlighted specific advancements, such as adding real-time ray traced global illumination to the series' graphics engine and developing Atmos, Ubisoft's dynamic weather system that adjusts lighting, cloud formations, rain, and wind effects on the fly.

"There are quite a few features that will carry over to future games," Dansereau concluded.

So, which games might benefit? Ubisoft has a lineup of future Assassin's Creed projects in the works, including the highly anticipated (and now officially confirmed) Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, which fans are hoping will release later this year. Looking further ahead, the next major new installment will be the witchcraft-focused Assassin's Creed Hexe, though it's not expected to arrive until 2027 at the earliest.

Beyond these, Ubisoft still intends to launch Assassin's Creed Jade, a smartphone game set in Ancient China that was announced years ago but has seen little recent news. Additionally, the Assassin's Creed live-action Netflix series is currently in production.