It looks like at least a few people have got their hands on physical copies of Assassin’s Creed Shadows ahead of the game’s official March 20 launch. Reportedly, one player streamed themselves playing the next entry in Ubisoft’s long-running franchise online. (No spoilers are included below.)
First announced way back in 2022 as Project Red, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows finally brings the sneaking historical action of the franchise to Japan. Ever since, it seems to have been fraught with complications. In the game, players can hop between two different characters—the sneaky ninja Naoe and the powerful samurai Yasuke, who is based on a real black warrior from history. Yasuke’s inclusion has caused some online to get very angry and led to a lot of discourse. The game has also suffered two delays—Shadows was originally planned to launch in November 2024. And now Ubisoft has a whole new problem to deal with: the game has leaked.
On February 24, VGC and IGN reported that physical copies of Assassin’s Creed Shadows had somehow leaked out into the wild, and people have since bought the game early and started playing it.
One person on Twitter claimed to have bought a leaked copy of Shadows on Facebook Marketplace and shared images of its box along with footage of them playing. The images and videos have been removed by Ubisoft, possibly confirming their validity. Another user on Reddit claimed to have an early copy and played it on PS5, sharing supposed details of the first few hours. Players have also reportedly started streaming the game on Twitch, though it appears those broadcasts are being taken down quickly and the archives scrubbed.
TheGamer further reported that a listing for Assassin’s Creed: Shadows appeared on online retailer Mercari. The listing was allegedly selling copies of the game for $100 a pop. An image of the seller showed them apparently holding multiple copies of Ubisoft’s upcoming Assassin’s Creed sequel.
For Ubisoft, this is probably the last thing it wanted to happen after the last year of delays, discourse, online yelling, and complaints about quality based on early gameplay.
From what I played in my preview earlier this year, I’m excited about Shadows and think it could be the best Assassin’s Creed game in years. The question now is: How many more fires will Ubisoft have to put out before Shadows releases on March 20?
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