Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ details leak as physical copies launch early

Ubisoft’s cursed journey with Assassin’s Creed Shadows has taken another sour turn, as the game leaks a month before its official launch.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows might be answering the prayers of fans who have longed for an entry set in Japan, but the game hasn’t exactly been a smooth ride for Ubisoft so far.

The sequel has faced controversy around its chosen protagonists, particularly African samurai Yasuke, which led to a bizarre non-apology from Ubisoft. Beyond vague claims of historical inaccuracy, the game has been delayed several times, just when Ubisoft desperately needs a big hit.

Now, a month ahead of its scheduled launch on March 20, copies of Assassin’s Creed Shadows have made their way into the wild.

The first rumbles of a leak were noted by Assassin’s Creed YouTuber The Hidden One, who claimed in a video that he knew someone with access to the game because the ‘PlayStation Store had made a mistake’.

While it’s unclear whether there was a hiccup which led to accidental digital sales on the PlayStation Store, X user DannyStevens_, who has since deleted his account, later posted screenshots of a physical PlayStation 5 copy along with the installation screen.

As reported by TheGamer, the user claims to have purchased the game through the Facebook Marketplace. While it’s unclear what the original source of the leak is, it seems it isn’t limited to one individual, with now-deleted listings for the game also popping up on other sites like Mercari.

We’ve spotted archived streams of Assassin’s Creed Shadows on Twitch too, which are still up at the time of writing.

A bunch of gameplay videos and details have since circulated on Reddit, from those who claim to have a copy, so it’s probably wise to mute some keywords if you’re hoping to go unspoiled over the next month.

For those who don’t mind a few spoilers, there’s a list of alleged details here although to be honest they’re nothing astounding.

It’s claimed these copies are an older build of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which makes sense if many of the promised improvements, following the delays, are part of the inevitable day one patch.

For those worried about any further delays, Ubisoft recently reaffirmed the game is on track to come out on March 20 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

This isn’t the first leak Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been subjected to either, after the game’s DLC expansion, The Claws Of Awaji, was outed on Steam earlier this year.

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