Ubisoft officially pulled back the curtain on Assassin’s Creed Shadows during its Forward digital showcase on July 23, 2026, delivering a comprehensive twelve-minute gameplay demonstration that finally revealed the true scope of the project formerly known as Codename RED. The game, which launches on March 15, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, is set in the tumultuous Azuchi-Momoyama period of feudal Japan and introduces the series’ most ambitious narrative structure to date: a fully integrated dual-protagonist system that allows players to switch between two distinct characters across both the main story and open-world exploration.
The two leads are Naoe, a shinobi from the mountainous province of Iga, and Yasuke, an African samurai based on the historical figure who served under Oda Nobunaga. The gameplay deep dive showed a mission set in a heavily fortified Japanese castle during the tense unification wars. The sequence began with Naoe infiltrating the outer defenses under cover of darkness. Her playstyle is a direct evolution of the classic Assassin’s Creed stealth formula, now augmented by a new dynamic lighting and shadow system that is the centerpiece of the game’s environmental interactions. Naoe can extinguish lanterns with a shuriken or a puff of wind from a paper fan, plunging courtyards into darkness and creating temporary hiding spots where guards’ lines of sight are realistically obstructed. She uses a grappling hook not merely for vertical traversal but to string lines between rooftops, from which she can perform aerial assassinations. Her arsenal includes traditional tools such as smoke bombs, kunai, and a blowpipe, but also introduces a new “Observe and Mark” system that lets her scan enemy patrol patterns and predict their future movements over a ten-second window, adding a predictive layer to the stealth puzzle.
The demonstration then cut to a mid-mission perspective shift, where the player seamlessly switched to Yasuke for a frontal assault. His combat is weighty and grounded in historical kenjutsu. The system emphasizes stance-switching, parrying, and breaking enemy posture. Yasuke can charge through destructible paper screens and wooden walls, using his Kanabō war club to shatter the defenses of armored guards. The combat design is a deliberate departure from the faster, counter-heavy combat of recent entries like Odyssey, and is instead described by creative director Jonathan Dumont as “a balance between the methodical weight of For Honor and the cinematic brutality of Ghost of Tsushima.” Yasuke’s unique ability is “Onimusha,” a state he enters after building up his resolve meter through consecutive parries and kills, which temporarily makes him immune to interruption and allows him to cleave through multiple enemies in a single, devastating flurry.
Beyond the mission design, Ubisoft showed how the open world of Shadows responds to a dynamic seasonal cycle. The story spans several years, and the central map—which covers a vast region from the bustling port city of Sakai to the snow-covered temples of the Kiso Mountains—transforms with the passing of seasons. In the winter segment shown, deep snow slowed both Naoe and Yasuke’s movement speed, but also muffled footsteps, allowing for easier stealth approaches. Conversely, the autumn demonstration featured torrential rain that made bowstrings less effective but created puddles of water that conducted electricity from Yasuke’s experimental “Thunder God” cannon, a weapon acquired through a late-game side quest.
For the first time in the series, players can build and manage their own Hidden Blade village. The narrative sees Naoe and Yasuke liberate a ruined settlement, which can then be customized with a variety of dojos, stables, forges, and a central “League Room” where allied historical figures can be recruited. The village serves as the player’s central hub, with customizations affecting gameplay—for example, upgrading the forge unlocks higher-tier weapon engravings, while the dojo allows for advanced training that can unlock new moves for both characters.
Ubisoft also confirmed that the modern-day storyline, which many fans have found inconsistent in recent entries, will be “a minimalist framing device” that follows an unseen hacker collective known as the “Invisibles” as they search for an artifact tied to the fall of Nobunaga. The developers stressed that the modern-day segments are entirely optional and will not pull players out of the open world.
The announcement concluded with the confirmation of the game’s full title, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a reference to the stealth dynamic of “playing in the shadows” that defines Naoe’s half of the campaign, as well as a thematic nod to the historical figures who operate in the shadows of power. The game is the first mainline entry developed by Ubisoft Quebec since Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and the studio has nearly doubled in size since that title, with many developers citing Splinter Cell and Tenchu as core inspirations for the stealth mechanics. Pre-orders opened immediately following the event, with a standard edition priced at $69.99, a Gold Edition at $109.99 that includes the season pass, and a Collector’s Edition that features a statue of Naoe and Yasuke back-to-back, along with an artbook and a replica of Naoe’s hidden blade.
