Assassin's Creed Shadows, much like its publisher Ubisoft, has faced countless controversies over the past year. Fans of the franchise have become somewhat disillusioned with it, in large part thanks to a handful of mediocre releases that seem to have abandoned what made the series so great in the first place. With Assassin's Creed Shadows proving to be such a divisive title, it isn't surprising that some felt it had already missed its chance at redeeming the once iconic series and seeing Ubisoft return to form.

However, Assassin's Creed Shadow's countless delays have put the game in a much better position, especially now that it has been moved out of the overly busy February slot into a far quieter March. Importantly, this delay finally gives the game a chance to showcase not just how the franchise has evolved, but also how much Ubisoft has changed as a developer. While it isn't guaranteed to save Ubisoft, Assassin's Creed Shadows could see fans finally fall back in love with a series that has languished over the past few years.

Ubisoft Hasn't Always Been A Bad Developer

It Is Responsible For Some Of The Best Open-World Games

It can be easy to write off Ubisoft in today's gaming landscape thanks to its business practices like Season es, microtransactions in single-player experiences, and shutting down multiple projects without giving any way for players to access them once the servers are down. However, during the phenomenal Black Flag era and even earlier, Ubisoft was at the top of its game, delivering critically acclaimed games one after another. While it had made a name for itself as the blockbuster game developer, there was still a place for that type of experience.

Games like Far Cry 3, Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and so many more ushered in an age of high-budget, high-production value experiences that captivated audiences across the world. Ubisoft was a leading developer and publisher within the open-world space, and much of the early to mid-2010s game design was directly inspired and propelled thanks to its efforts. What saw its decline happen so rapidly was its dogmatic belief in its formulas as well as its trend-chasing habits that saw it prioritize monetization over player enjoyment.

Games like sexual misconduct allegations, telling players to get used to not owning their own games (via GameRant), and their foray into NFTs - was ultimately its downfall and led to the stagnation of its content. However, that could hopefully change with the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows, and players may finally see the return of the early and better days of Ubisoft.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Could Be A Return To Form For Ubisoft

It Is Ditching Its Old Business Models

Assassin's Creed Shadows is, in many ways, shaping up to be a return to form for Ubisoft. From both a gameplay and monetization standpoint, Shadows appears to offer an experience more akin to Ubisoft's earlier works, including the likes of Black Flag and even earlier. For example, Shadow's stealth overhauls are particularly impressive, putting far more credence on the assassin part of the series while still giving those who've grown accustomed to the RPG aspects of the recent entries what they want through Yasuke's character.

It is important to note that these improvements weren't always necessarily the case. Many of the improvements to Assassin's Creed Shadows, especially when concerning Ubisoft's business practices, were done in response to the disappointing launch of Outlaws.

Additionally, Ubisoft has scrapped Season es and Early Access - both of which fans have soured towards - and has instead opted to give the first expansion away for free to those who pre-order. This is a significant change for Ubisoft, as, on a broader scale, it marks a return to the way games handled DLC in the past, and also shows that Ubisoft is finally listening to its player base. Fans have grown tired of Season es and Early Access periods as they require far too much money upfront for potentially little reward, especially if the DLC ends up reviewing poorly.

Ubisoft has also shot down rumors of a battle , which all feeds into its newfound approach to monetization. None of this excuses Ubisoft's past controversies, but it does show the publisher moving in the right direction. It also remains to be seen whether Assassin's Creed Shadows will hold up to scrutiny once it finally ships after several delays. While it's possible it could flop as badly as Star Wars Outlaws, there's also a chance that it could end up becoming one of Ubisoft's best games.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Has The Potential To Be Ubisoft's Best Game

It Has Nearly Two Decades Of AC Games To Learn From

After nearly two decades of crafting not just Assassin's Creed games, but open-world experiences in general, Ubisoft has built up a repertoire of unique ideas and concepts few other developers have tried. While it is true that Ubisoft rarely innovates within its own franchises, it occasionally throws out a cool new feature that has never before been seen, such as Watch Dog Legion's play-as-anyone mechanic. Assassin's Creed Shadows has the potential to be the culmination of all of that, learning from the series' past mistakes while moving it forward into a new age.

Of course, it equally has the chance to be another disappointment as, while it has undergone several crucial delays, production started on it long before Ubisoft started seeing a decline in sales, especially in its licensed products. However, Ubisoft does seem to learn a little with each outing, shrinking the world size in Assassin's Creed Mirage after players complained Valhalla was too big, and even prioritizing parkour - even if it wasn't perfected in Mirage. There is the possibility that, after so many years of tweaking the core Assassin's Creed formula, Ubisoft may have finally gotten it right with Shadows.

There is a lot riding on Assassin's Creed Shadows for both Ubisoft as a company and fans. Ubisoft needs Shadows to succeed in order to not lose any more money than it already has and gain even more bad press. Fans want Shadows to succeed because they're tired of getting the same Ubisoft fare they've been getting for years. After Unity's buggy launch, Origin's switching of genres, Odyssey's enormous icon-covered map, and Valhalla's bland open-world, it is absolutely time fans got a good Assassin's Creed game, and Assassin's Creed Shadows, for everyone's sake, has to be it.

Source: Ubisoft/YouTube, GameRant