Earlier today, Ubisoft officially unveiled Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the next big, main entry in the long-running stealth-action franchise featuring sneaky assassins and evil Templars running amok throughout history. And for the first time in a decade, Ubisoft’s popular series is skipping the PS4 and Xbox One.
Let’s hop into our own Animus and return to the year 2012. That’s the year Assassin’s Creed III was released on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC. That game didn’t launch on PS4 because…there was no PS4. Next year, in 2013, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (aka the really good pirate one) launched in 2013 on those previously mentioned platforms, but also arrived on the then-new PS4 and Xbox One.
Pre-order Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Best Buy | Ubisoft
So it seems reasonable to think that ACIII was the last time the franchise didn’t arrive on PS4 and Xbox One. But no, that’s incorrect! Weirdly, in 2014, we got two Assassin’s Creed games: Unity and Rogue. Unity infamously launched with a ton of bugs on PS4 and Xbox One. But Rogue only arrived on PS3 and Xbox 360, a sort of final farewell to those aging platforms.
Since then, for the last decade now, every major Assassin’s Creed game has been released on PS4 and Xbox One. Even last year’s fantastic Mirage launched on PS4 and Xbox One, consoles that are now over 10 years old.
However, this streak ends this November with the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which is only being developed for PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and Mac. While I’m happy to see the franchise move on and expand beyond what was possible on those older platforms, it’s a bit sad to see the end of an era.
The OG Assassin’s Creed and Shadows have this in common
And yes, before you yell at me online, I know that (almost) all the main Assassin’s Creed games eventually ended up on PS4 via remasters and re-releases. I know! But oddly, that leads to one last fact: Assassin’s Creed Shadows will soon be just one of two main entries in the franchise to not be playable on PS4.
The other one? The very first Assassin’s Creed game released back in 2007.
The game that started it all has never been remastered, remade, or even ported to any platforms beyond PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Technically, the 360 version is playable on Xbox One and Series consoles. But to this day, the only way to play it on a PlayStation console is to dust off your PS3, ignore the loud fan, and boot it up there.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches on November 15 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Mac, and Amazon’s Luna streaming service. (Don’t laugh, it’s a thing.)
Pre-order Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Best Buy | Ubisoft
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