Ubisoft won't release a new Assassin's Creed Shadows expansion any time soon

Claws of Awaji may be the only expansion coming to Ubisoft's latest samurai-based Assassin's Creed game.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows won't be getting a second expansion any time soon. Ubisoft instead plans to focus more on smaller-scale content updates and tweaks, which coincides with two major changes at Ubisoft: First, the Assassin's Creed franchise itself is being handed over to an entirely new creative leadership team, and second, the publisher is still exploring the Assassin's Creed Infinity game launcher model to help wrap the series into a convenient one-stop shop for future titles.

The news was officially confirmed in a recent interview with YouTuber Jor Raptor, where Assassin's Creed Shadows post-launch content director Lemay-Comtois said there are currently no plans for an Awaji-sized expansion for Shadows.

• Read more: Assassin's Creed Mirage player count doubles as gamers spend much more time in the franchise

"We live in a murky world these days, so with the caveat that anything can happen in the future, as Mirage just proved and as the crossover stories from Odyssey to Valhalla also proved before it, things could come up in the future.

"But as of now, at this moment, for year two there is no expansion on the size of Awaji that is planned currently.

"We're still working on content for post-launch and supporting it, but it's not a full-on DLC in the way that a season pass would have in previous years.

"Whether or not this is the right way to go, or a good learning, I think it's more of an experience that we're trying with Shadows--to keep things small and reactive and see how the community feels about it. The learnings that come out of that will be applied to whatever projects we do next."

Ubisoft had originally planned to release 2 major expansions for Shadows, but this idea was disrupted when Ubisoft delayed Shadows to February 2025, delisting the game and refunding pre-orders in the process. When Shadows was re-listed, Ubisoft gave away the first major expansion, Claws of Awaji, for free to those that had pre-ordered the game the first time.

The move has apparently paid off for Ubisoft and Assassin's Creed overperformed in their Q2 period:

"The Assassin's Creed franchise posted a strong performance in Q2, with both Assassin's Creed Shadows and the rest of the brand's catalog overperforming.

"The Claws of Awaji expansion released on September 16 and contributed to re-engaging players. It was praised as a solid addition to the base game, offering new unique boss fights in a beautiful and dark atmosphere. Looking ahead, Assassin's Creed Shadows will reach a broader audience with its launch on the Nintendo Switch 2 on December 2."

The move to disrupt expansion content marks a major departure for the series, as previous mainline Assassin's Creed games have all had at least two major expansions, except for Valhalla, which had three. Ubisoft has proven we should never say never, though, because Mirage received an expansion that had not been previously planned.

Ubisoft still has other major Assassin's Creed game releases planned for the next few years, saying that it expects a number of "major releases" throughout the 2026 and 2027 annual periods.