On February 24th, news broke of an online leak of Assassin's Creed Shadows, with numerous individuals streaming gameplay a month before its official March 20th release.

The weekend saw further evidence of the leak, as noted by the GamingLeaksandRumours subreddit. Deleted social media posts revealed physical copies being sold prematurely, and multiple unauthorized streams appeared on platforms like Twitch.

Ubisoft, the developer and publisher, acknowledged the leak on the Assassin's Creed subreddit, urging players to refrain from spoiling the game for others. They stated that the development team is still applying final patches, and that currently available online footage doesn't reflect the game's final quality. Ubisoft emphasized the negative impact of leaks on player anticipation and thanked the community for its efforts in mitigating spoilers. They concluded with a plea to avoid spoilers and promised further official announcements in the coming weeks.

This leak adds to Ubisoft's recent challenges with the Assassin's Creed franchise. The team previously apologized for unauthorized use of a historical recreation group's flag and for historical inaccuracies in the game's depiction of Japan. Assassin's Creed Shadows' release date has already been pushed back from November to February 14th, and then to its current March 20th launch. Given recent underwhelming sales and investor concerns, Ubisoft desperately needs this title to succeed.