The Assassin’s Creed series will finally satiate the long-held desire of fans for a Japanese-set installment, but Ubisoft believes that the current climate provides an opportune moment to do so.
The nostalgia! Memories of Assassin’s Creed II have lingered, with enthusiasts passionately requesting a game set in Japan or elsewhere in Asia – a sentiment echoing through the years since its initial release. The series had already delivered significantly with Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, but fast-forward to 2024 and the next installment, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, will finally land in players’ hands, set in Japan this time around. If you query Thierry Dansereau, the sports’ artwork director, he suggests that it’s fortuitous the studio delayed releasing the game until now, as this has enabled developers to focus on the “next-generation features” that Dansereau believes have been eagerly anticipated for a sport set in Japan.
In a recent interview with Play Journal, Dansereau noted that the timing was serendipitous, enabling the development of new-gen options that have been highly anticipated for a setting like this to be fully exploited. The developer drew on Assassin’s Creed’s rich gaming heritage and intentionally crafted Shadows with the series’ core pillars in mind. While fans had long anticipated a Japan-set game, Dansereau believed this development was an organic extension of the franchise’s natural progression rather than a deliberate attempt to capitalize on a particular trend.
At Gamescom last month, Dansereau delivered a keynote presentation that our own Dominic had the privilege to attend. At the heart of Ubisoft’s Shadows game, a crucial element driving its dynamism is, surprisingly, clouds – a topic explored in more detail below.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadow’s release date is set for November 15, when it will become available to play on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
