Assassin’s Creed Shadows reveals year 1 post launch roadmap with first major update coming next week

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After the latest release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows on both PC and gaming consoles, Ubisoft has unveiled their year 1 post-release plan for the game.

Ubisoft has unveiled the post-launch plan for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, detailing both free and premium content set to roll out in a recently released video. The game’s inaugural significant update is due next week on May 6, bringing fresh story elements alongside it. In the coming months, Assassin’s Creed Shadows players can expect free updates such as new difficulty options, game modes, ‘New Game+’, additional quests, collaborations and much more.


The action-adventure game, “Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” has been released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and personal computers via Steam, Epic Games, and Ubisoft. You can check out Dave’s ongoing review and thoughts on the game here.

Below, you can discover the Assassin’s Creed Shadows Year 1 Post-Launch content plan, as well as additional information provided by Ubisoft.

Hello Assassins, 

A whole month has passed since we released AC Shadows, and it’s been an exhilarating experience watching so many of you dive into the game. However, as exciting as the past has been, we’re now turning our gaze towards what lies ahead and sharing some insights about our post-launch strategies.

As an avid enthusiast, I’m thrilled to share that we’re not just focusing on the routine tweaks for stability and balance. We’ve got exciting plans to regularly roll out free updates, with the aim of constantly enhancing your gaming journey. Alongside the dynamic Animus content, you can look forward to new immersion customization options, challenging difficulty settings, fresh modes, the long-awaited New Game+, a host of free quests featuring beloved characters, some extraordinary collaborations, and we’re tirelessly working on improvements based on community feedback. Here’s to an even more engaging experience!

  1. New Ally, abilities, activities, and additional backstory that will permanently impact the game

  2. Optional paid content

  3. Free if pre-ordered the game

Claws of Awaji

Initially, we’re excited to announce our first expansion, titled “Claws of Awaji,” set to release later this year. For those who pre-ordered Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, this expansion offers a fresh experience by introducing the island of Awaji – a new location for you to traverse. This continuation of Naoe and Yasuke’s story picks up right where Shadows’ epilogue ends. You can anticipate encountering new adversaries, acquiring new skills for both characters, and discovering a unique weapon exclusive to Naoe – the Bo staff. Keep an eye out as we unveil further details! In the meantime, let’s take a peek at what else is in store for you!

New Story Drops

In the upcoming months following the game launch, we have exciting plans for additional free content that we’re referring to as Story Drops. These new free quests will introduce fresh player capabilities, new companions, new world activities, and offer more insights and background stories on your beloved characters. Each new piece of content will build upon the main game. The first story drop is scheduled for the Early May update and is titled “The Works of Luis Frois”. It delves deeper into the historical Jesuit scholar whose works about Japan’s Sengoku period remain relevant today.

Parkour Updates

As a fellow thrill-seeker who adores deep parkour, I’m excited to share that we’re about to ramp up the action with new parkour interactions and optimizations. Starting later in May, you can expect our first update to include long-awaited features like height-gaining back-ejects and fully re-animated height-gaining side-ejects. But wait, there’s more! We’re also introducing a brand-new parkour move – the Vertical Ledge Jump. This nifty trick will let both characters jump and grab onto awnings and lower overhangs when wall-runs aren’t feasible. And that’s just the beginning – we’ve got more clever parkour tricks and enhancements in store throughout the year, so get ready to keep up with the pace!

Photo Mode Update

In addition to Parkour, we’re also enhancing the Photo Mode by introducing fresh filters and stickers, diverse character poses and facial expressions, as well as ambient music for your pleasure. This is aimed at providing you with a wider variety and comfort when it comes to showcasing the charm of Feudal Japan through photography.

Community Feedback Updates

Throughout the development process, paying attention to community feedback has been a top priority for our team, and this continues even after the release of Shadows. On April 8th, we launched our first major update, addressing numerous bugs, enhancing gameplay with features like auto-follow for horses, urban speed improvements, the option to reset single mastery nodes, and multi-item selection at merchants and your forge. For a detailed look at all changes, check out the release notes: AC Shadows Title Update 1.0.2 – Release Notes.

In June, we’re releasing our second Community Feedback Update. This update will enable you to adjust your in-game settings during dialogues and cutscenes, including toggling your head gear on or off. Additionally, you’ll have the option to personalize your gaming experience further by disabling certain visual effects such as weapon glints during combat, altering ability filters to black-and-white (with occasional red accents), customizing assassination celebration effects, and turning off stealth outlines when your character is hidden. Furthermore, we’re expanding the Alarm System and making it applicable to the open world, providing a more challenging experience for you!

More to come on the regular

In the upcoming updates, expect an abundance of free content for Animus Hub, as well as an enriched New Game + mode. This expansion will also elevate the level cap, and for those seeking a tougher challenge, we are diligently working on a more demanding difficulty setting for both combat and stealth. This should test even the most seasoned players!

We intend to consistently roll out free updates, ensuring that the experience remains engaging, delightful, and continually enhancing. We won’t give away all our secrets just yet, but expect some exciting collaborations and other intriguing updates coming soon!

Don’t forget to stay connected with us by following our channels for the latest information about each update and its features. Join our official Discord server, share your thoughts, feedback, and dream up wild ideas for future developments that we should consider tackling in the near term!

Appreciate your involvement immensely as we traverse this remarkable Feudal Japan adventure together! We eagerly look forward to sharing more experiences with you in the approaching year. Until then, I hope our paths cross again!

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2025-04-30 20:26