Ubisoft has announced its highly-anticipated upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed until next year.
Instead of releasing it on 12 November as previously planned, it has been pushed back to 14 February 2025.
It follows the disappointing performance of another of the firm’s major titles, Star Wars Outlaws, and concerns from some about how Ubisoft is being run.
The game’s executive producer Marc-Alexis Cote said the developers “need more time to polish and refine the experience”.
“We understand this decision will come as disappointing news,” he said.
“But we sincerely believe this is in the best interest of the game.”
In a trading update sent to Ubisoft’s investors, seen by the BBC, the firm – which is headquartered in France – said despite the game being “feature complete” it needed more time.
“The learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title,” it reads.
Star Wars Outlaws was released in August to strong reviews, but early players complained of bugs and glitches.
In its trading update, Ubisoft notes sales of the game were “softer than expected”, which it seemed to be putting down to a lack of polish.
Mr Cote said the firm would refund fans who had pre-ordered the game, and promised a free expansion to anyone who placed a new pre-order for the revised launch.
When it finally arrives, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be the first game in the series to be set in Japan – a setting fans have been clamouring for since the series began in 2007.
The decision to push the game back beyond Christmas – usually a lucrative time for game sales – will not have been made lightly.
But the sales performance of Star Wars Outlaws caused Ubisoft’s shares to take a serious hit, when the firm would have been hoping the game would set it back on course.
They have fallen to a price of 11.32 euros a share at the time of writing – the lowest in a decade.
A minority investor wrote a letter to the board earlier this month calling for the company to either be taken private or sold to an investor.
Ubisoft co-founder and boss Yves Guillemot said the move to push back Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ launch was a result of the firm’s second quarter performance – which “fell sort of our expectations”.
“We remain committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy,” he said.