People Are Streaming Assassin's Creed Shadows a Month Ahead of Its Official Release Date

News has broken that *Assassin's Creed Shadows* has leaked online, with gameplay footage surfacing a month ahead of its official release. Social media posts, now removed, showcased images and gameplay from someone claiming to have purchased the game from an online marketplace. Further fueling the leak, now-deleted listings on a U.S. auction site reportedly showed multiple copies selling for $100 each, according to TheGamer. Multiple Twitch streams also briefly featured *Assassin's Creed Shadows* gameplay before being taken down, as reported by VGC. The game's official release date remains March 20, 2025. IGN has reached out to Ubisoft for comment.

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This leak presents a significant challenge for Ubisoft, a company already facing considerable hurdles with *Assassin's Creed Shadows*. Despite the troubled development and marketing, Ubisoft recently insisted that preorders are strong, claiming they are comparable to those of *Assassin's Creed Odyssey*, the franchise's second most successful title. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot echoed this sentiment, highlighting positive early previews praising the narrative, immersive experience, dual protagonist approach, and overall gameplay quality. He commended the development team's dedication to delivering the franchise's most ambitious installment yet.

The game's release has been plagued by delays. Initially slated for November, it was first pushed back to February 14th, and then again to its current March 20th release date. The success of *Assassin's Creed Shadows* is crucial for Ubisoft, not only as the long-awaited Japan-set entry and the first full *Assassin's Creed* title since 2020, but also because the publisher needs a strong performer after recent underperforming titles and investor concerns.

The game's promotional period has been marred by several controversies. The development team issued apologies for inaccuracies in the game's depiction of Japan and for using a historical recreation group's flag without permission. Further complicating matters, collectible figure maker PureArts removed an *Assassin's Creed Shadows* statue from sale due to its "insensitive" design.