Assassin's Creed Shadows modern day segments getting major reboot, developers confirm

It’s fair to say that 2024 has not been a good year for Ubisoft, and it’s ending on a low note as the developer admits that Assassin’s Creed Shadows needs a reboot.

This claim focuses on a core part of the story, and a plot that has been a feature of every Assassin’s Creed game since the very first.

Assassin's Creed Shadows has had a very troubled year embroiled in controversies and delays

We’re talking about the modern-day aspect of the story that started with Desmond in the Animus discovering his ancestor’s history with the Knights Templar.

The Animus was a way to tap into a user's DNA and show them exactly what their ancestor got up to as part of a group of shadowy assassins.

Desmond’s story, which was a major focus for the first few games, came to an end in Assassin’s Creed 3 and since then it has been left to languish.

According to franchise head honcho, Marc-Alexis Coté, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will put “history back at the centre of the players' experience.”

This comes from a talk given at a recent BAFTA event attended by Eurogamer who shared the details of Coté’s speech.

The Ubisoft developer believes that the story started to focus too much on magical relics and less on the history of humanity.

So, while details are thin on the ground, we’ll be seeing more of the modern-day setting in the upcoming game.

Explaining more Coté said, “The modern-day storyline will explore deeper themes of memory, identity, and autonomy, how the past shapes who we are, and how controlling this past can impact our future.”

He also mentioned that this change will “lay the foundation for this narrative evolution that will grow in the years to come.”

When Assassin’s Creed Shadows finally escapes its delay and releases to the world, we’ll get to see a more involved story that takes us back to the roots of the franchise.