Assassin's Creed Shadows is out early, as physical copies have leaked into the hands of players weeks before the official launch.
While leaks like this are nothing new in the gaming industry, what makes this case interesting is how overwhelmingly positive the early impressions have been.
A few lucky (or perhaps just opportunistic) players have gotten a head start and are already fueling hype that feels just as big as Black Flag. Rumors began circulating on forums and social media about early sales of physical copies of Assassin's Creed Shadows, with @DannyStevens confirming they had logged around 10-11 hours on a standard PS5 version. The details were originally shared with the AC Leaks Discord server.
The version making the rounds is said to be an older build, which means it doesn't include the updates Ubisoft has worked on since delaying the game. Even so, early players have praised the world design, missions, and stealth mechanics, with the leakers themselves claiming it to be "the best since Black Flag."
They praised the quest structure, saying both main and side missions felt well-designed and engaging. The opening hours feature an abundance of high-quality mocap cutscenes, with the first three hours feeling "almost like a movie."
While much of the game was impressive, there were moments where things felt incomplete, mainly when characters' mouths didn't move during conversations. One of the major takeaways from early impressions is the dual protagonist system. The game starts with Yasuke, the historical African samurai, and later transitions to Naoe, a shinobi seeking revenge.
However, the player noted that after nine hours of play, they were still unable to switch back to Yasuke. This has led to speculation that character-switching may only be possible later in the game.
Customization also seems to be a mix of old and new. There's no hair customization (yet), but transmog for outfits and weapons is included, so players can personalize their characters while keeping the same stats.
Of course, you've got to take these early thoughts with a pinch of salt because what players are seeing now isn't the polished version. The physical discs might have been printed well before the delays, so they won't include key bug fixes and refinements that will be available in the day-one patch.
The leak does give us a look at some of the big things everyone's waiting for, but it's too soon to really say anything. We're probably not seeing it at its best yet. Despite this, the leaked build has been surprisingly stable. The player who spent over 10 hours in the game reported almost no major bugs, aside from a minor cutscene issue where an NPC clipped through a wall.
For the time being, fans will have to wait and see how Shadows measures up once Ubisoft officially launches it.
But if early impressions are anything to go by, the game might just be as good as they say.