Ubisoft gave Assassin’s Creed fans their first real look at the next flagship in the long-running franchise with the debut trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows on Wednesday. Formerly known as Assassin’s Creed: Codename Red, Shadows will send the franchise to feudal Japan for the first time this November, where players can live out their shinobi fantasies as the ninja Naoe.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows also lets players take on a second role, that of the legendary black samurai Yasuke. While other Assassin’s Creed games feature dual protagonists, the two playable characters of Shadows seem to be clearer than those of any previous game. The female ninja character of the game is shown with ninjato, wrist blade and kissarigama. Her samurai counterpart is a heavily armored guy with a hefty katana.
The debut trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows teased its cinematic ambitions and introduced its characters. Fans may have to wait until Ubisoft Forward in June for a look at the actual gameplay.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is being developed by Ubisoft Quebec, the studio behind 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odysseyunder the creative direction of Jonathan Dumont. Shadows used to be originally announced in 2022 under the codename, and promised to send the Assassin’s Creed franchise to one of the most requested settings by fans.
Shadows is the open-world RPG sequel to last year’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the scaled-back version of the 17-year-old Assassin’s Creed formula. The feudal-era Japan game is just one of several announced projects in the works for the Assassin’s Creed publisher. Others include Assassin’s Creed Jadea mobile game set in China’s Qin Dynasty, and the mysterious Assassin’s Creed codename: Hexe“a very different kind of Assassin’s Creed game,” said Ubisoft executive producer Marc-Alexis Cote. Hex is overseen by creative director Clint Hocking (Watch Dog Legion, Far Cry 2).
Elsewhere, there’s Assassin’s Creed Codename: Infinity, which is “not a game per se,” Cote said in 2022, but “a hub that will unite all our different experiences and players in meaningful ways.”
Assassin’s Creed Shadows coming to Mac, PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X on November 15.