Assassin's Creed Shadows Leaked a Month Early

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has surfaced online, with unauthorized streams appearing nearly a month ahead of its official launch.

As highlighted on the GamingLeaksandRumours subreddit, now-deleted social media posts showed images and gameplay footage from an individual who reportedly purchased the game through an online marketplace. According to TheGamer, now-removed listings also appeared on a U.S. auction site, where a seller was offering multiple copies for $100 each.

Several Twitch streams displaying Assassin’s Creed Shadows have since emerged, though they are reportedly being taken down, as noted by VGC. The official release date for Assassin’s Creed Shadows is March 20, 2025. IGN has reached out to Ubisoft for comment.

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This situation adds to a series of challenges Ubisoft has faced since announcing Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Earlier this month, the company maintained that despite a rocky development and promotional cycle, preorder numbers for the game remain strong.

In its latest financial report, the publisher stated that "preorders are tracking solidly, on par with those of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the franchise’s second most successful installment."

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot echoed this confidence, saying, "Early previews have been positive, with praise directed at the narrative depth and immersive experience, as both protagonists play vital roles in the storyline, along with the quality and complementary gameplay enabled by the dual protagonist system."

"I want to commend the incredible talent and dedication of the entire Assassin’s Creed team, who are working tirelessly to ensure Shadows lives up to its promise as the franchise’s most ambitious entry to date."

Originally scheduled for November, Assassin's Creed Shadows was first delayed to February 14 before being postponed again to its current March 20 release date.

The stakes are high for Assassin's Creed Shadows—not only is it the highly anticipated Japan-based installment and the first full Assassin’s Creed game since 2020, but Ubisoft is counting on a strong performance following recent disappointments and growing investor concerns.

So far, the game’s promotional journey has been bumpy. The development team has apologized on separate occasions for inaccuracies in the game’s portrayal of Japanese history and using a historical recreation group's flag without permission.

Another controversy arose when collectible figure company PureArts pulled an Assassin's Creed Shadows statue from sale due to its "insensitive" design.