Assassin's Creed Shadows: Ubisoft goes all out for the latest update

All good adventures come to an end. After more than a year of support, Ubisoft is ending support for Assassin's Creed Shadows to focus on all upcoming new projects. To mark the occasion, the development team has pulled out all the stops. The final update introduces a new narrative quest, two new crossover projects, a new end-game feature, an unprecedented Animus Rift, and several fixes and other improvements. 

An update with flair

Available since March 20, 2025, Assassin's Creed Shadows has met a very high community expectation by setting the action in Japan. The development team then ensured the game's follow-up by deploying several updates. These have allowed for the correction of certain elements and the addition of new content, such as bonus stories or special collaborations. Nevertheless, Ubisoft has several Assassin's Creed projects coming up, including Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, which implies looking to the future. Indeed, earlier in the year, Jean Guesdon took stock of ongoing projects and announced the inevitable: AC Shadows support is coming to an end. The time has come, but before saying goodbye to the game, Ubisoft has deployed a final update rich in new features. 

We start with the addition of Black Tides, a new free narrative quest. To access it, you must earn it by completing the main story as well as the post-launch quests "A Critical Encounter" and "A Puzzlement." Once these three conditions are met, you can attempt to escape from two elite Templars known as the "Black Cross." They have come to hunt Naoe and Yasuke. We won't say more to let you enjoy the discovery. 

Bonus, pleasure, joy

If you haven't played Assassin's Creed Shadows yet, you have everything to discover. However, if you have already explored the adventure, Ubisoft has done everything to invite you back to the game. Thus, in addition to the new quest, the update introduces a new Animus activity. Called Domains, it adds five new gameplay simulations across ten difficulty levels. For the record, this new type of simulation was developed by the hacker MOD. It aims to test the skills of players while allowing them to unlock bonus items, including outfits, weapons, engravings, and trinkets. A small note, the items unlocked in this mode will not be offered in the premium shop. Be careful though, the higher the difficulty, the more the modifiers applied to the game session require adjusting your approach to the situation. Surviving is an art. Each situation therefore requires adapting in real time. In any case, you must already have some basics as the Domains are only accessible from level 30.

To add a little more playtime to your counter, you can also dive into Horizon, a new Animus Rift. However, to discover it, you must have completed the previous two. Finally, Ubisoft has launched two new crossover projects, namely Riptides and Undertow, allowing you to obtain themed outfits, weapons, or even trinkets. To collect all these bonuses, including elements from the future AC Black Flag Resynced, you need to complete the Anomalies via the Animus Hub (except on Nintendo Switch 2 since the Assassin's Creed IV remake will not be released on Nintendo's console). 

Cover and article images: Ubisoft®