Assassin’s Creed Shadows Moves Away from Classic Season Pass Structure

Ubisoft has officially confirmed that the upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be moving away from the traditional Season Pass model.

In a statement found in a report discussing Ubisoft’s financial targets for the fiscal year 2024-2025, the company disclosed its choice to forgo the conventional Season Pass format, among other significant changes to its title release strategies.

This announcement coincided with news that Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed to February 14, 2025. According to the developer, this delay of three additional months is intended to allow for enhanced polishing of the game.

Season Passes have historically been a feature across major titles in the Assassin’s Creed series, as well as other Ubisoft franchises. Typically, purchasing a Season Pass enables players to access all seasonal rewards and upcoming DLC packs.

Assassin's Creed Shadows in winter — Ubisoft

“All players will have the opportunity to enjoy the game on February 14, and those who preorder the game will receive the first expansion at no additional cost,” the statement emphasized.

Thus, not only will Shadows eliminate the Season Pass model, but it will also provide the initial DLC expansion for free to players who opt to preorder the game. Furthermore, players who purchase more expensive editions of the game will not gain early access.

Another noteworthy update is that Ubisoft plans to reinstate day-one releases for new titles on Steam, moving away from its previous approach to launch games exclusively through Ubisoft Connect.

Ubisoft is making these significant changes for its upcoming releases after reflecting on past launches. “[T]he insights gained from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to allocate additional time,” the statement noted.

This significant news came just a day after Ubisoft Japan announced that it would not be participating in Tokyo Game Show 2024 just days prior to the event.

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