Assassin’s Creed Shadows was delayed because players “rightfully demand excellence”

Back in September, Ubisoft made the surprise decision to delay the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows just one month out from its intended launch. Speaking on the reasons for this delay, the franchise head has claimed that “players can afford to be selective, choosing only the best, and they rightfully demand excellence.”

In a recent speech conducted by the Vice President Executive Producer for the Assassin's Creed franchise (Marc-Alexis Côté) during a BAFTA event, the exec spoke on the reasons for the surprise last-minute delay.

As transcribed by Eurogamer, Côté stated “Players can afford to be selective, choosing only the best, and they rightfully demand excellence. Ubisoft's portfolio has faced criticism in recent years for a perceived inconsistency in quality.”

They continued, “Players expect more polish, more innovation and deeper engagement from the games we release, and they're not shy about letting us know when they feel we have fallen short. This environment pushes us to do better and to be better.”

According to Côté, it was his decision to delay the game, claiming that “Our playtests and team feedback made it clear Shadows had immense potential, but I felt we needed more time to ensure it fully meets the high expectations of our players.”

In a moment of notable awareness, Côté concluded by stating “We know this game has the potential to be one of the best in the franchise's storied history, set in one of the most anticipated settings we've yet to explore. But we also know that in today's market, being amongst the best is just not enough anymore.”

With Ubisoft becoming increasingly known for their big-budget-yet-somewhat mediocre releases, it is encouraging to see that the delay of AC: Shadows appears to be an overall positive. Hopefully the extra dev time helps. The full speech can be found HERE.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of the explanation? Can AC: Shadows break the recent trend with Ubisoft’s AAA releases? Let us know down below.

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