Assassin’s Creed Shadows debuts first cinematic trailer and late 2024 release date

After revealing the game’s official name just days ago, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has received its first trailer and release date.

After building up anticipation with hourglasses appearing around Japan, Ubisoft has finally shown off a cinematic trailer that delves into the world and story of the game. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to be released on November 15. Get your first look at the game’s impressive cinematic trailer below.

“We are the shadows.. that serve the light” is such a ripper line to close this first look at Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Taking place in feudal Japan during the late 1500s, Shadows will feature Ubisoft bringing to life yet another historical period with their usual finesse. This should mark a return to form for the franchise after the release of Mirage last year. Shadows follows 2 protagonists – Naoe, a shinobi trained by her father who has a more stealth playstyle and Yasuke, a samurai who’s travelled to Japan and has a more combat-focused playstyle. Yasuke is also actually based on a real-life samurai who arrived in Japan during this time. This is the first time that an Assassin’s Creed game has featured a protagonist based on a real-life person. Players will be able to play either character throughout the game’s story depending on what playstyle they prefer and what a scenario might require.

This is a significant departure from Odyssey and Vahalla which both featured 2 variants of their main characters for players to choose from with the same story. I feel the two separate protagonists in Shadows is a win because we now get to see these two perspectives and how they differ and work towards the same goals. You can find out even more about Naoe and Yasuke in the below featurette.

I’m really excited to get my hands on Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The franchise has always been a guilty pleasure of mine ever since meeting Altair in AC1 years ago. Despite only seeing a cinematic for Shadows, I’m already feeling much of what I’ve admired in other Assassin’s Creed games has been brought forward. As a first taste of this new era for the franchise, seeing the characters and world come to life feels really promising. Japan as a setting for the series feels like it’s been a long time coming too. I’ll be eagerly awaiting gameplay footage in June to see how the series builds itself out into this new adventure.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows releases on November 15 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.