With Assassin’s Creed Shadows getting delayed into 2025, it is now in direct competition with Ghost of Yotei, the Ghost of Tsushima sequel announced during yesterday’s Sony State of Play.
The move begs comparison between the two, as they’re both games set in feudal Japan and feature classical images of ninjas, samurai, and ronin. But despite the similarities, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot says there’s room enough for two big open-world action-adventure games set in Japan.
“There’s a lot of space for very high-quality games, and those two games can sell very well,” Guillemot said.
On what differentiates the two, Guillemot focused on Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ dual protagonists, which allows players to take control of either a ninja or a samurai.
“The focus is to really make sure that we deliver a fantastic experience with this dual protagonist approach and two different and complimentary gameplays…. a setting taking place in feudal Japan should be really enticing,” he said.
One way or another, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be facing a lot of competition now that it’s been pushed into February 2025, as it will be pitted against Avowed, Civilization VII, Monster Hunter Wilds, and a host of other high-profile games. Indeed, 2025 is shaping up to be a very busy year in general thanks to the expected release of the Switch 2 and GTA VI.
To try and give Assassin’s Creed Shadows a boost, Ubisoft plans to release it Day 1 on Steam in a shift from its previous strategy. It also confirmed that Assassin’s Creed Shadows will include PS5 Pro enhancements.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows releases February 14 on PS5, Xbox, and PC, and you can read our hands-off preview right here. As for Ghost of Yotei, we don’t have a release date yet, but expect it to come out closer to the holidays. In the meantime, you can read about the best video games of 2024 right here.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.