No, Assassin's Creed Shadows is not coming to PS4 & Xbox One
Assassin's Creed Shadows is on its way later this year, but players on the last generation of consoles won't get to play it. Here's why the game isn't coming to PS4 and Xbox One.
Much to the dismay of players still hanging around on the last generation of consoles, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will not be coming to the PS4 and Xbox One. This was confirmed following the reveal of the game’s cinematic trailer. Now that pre-orders have gone live, there’s no option to purchase the game on those older consoles.
The last time that the Assassin’s Creed series skipped out a generation was back in 2014 with the release of Unity, which was developed exclusively for (at the time) next-gen hardware. However, Ubisoft did release Rogue in the same year for the Xbox 360 and PS3, almost like a consolidation prize for those who hadn’t made the jump to the new consoles yet.
Do we know why the game isn't coming to last-gen?
Ubisoft hasn’t provided any comment for why Shadows is skipping out on Xbox One and PS4 this year, but we suspect it’s something to do with the advancements in the Anvil engine that powers the game.
A press release for the game reads, “From spectacular castle towns and bustling ports to peaceful shrines and pastoral landscapes, feudal Japan comes to life with unprecedented dynamism built from the ground up with the latest version of Anvil engine and the power of new-gen consoles.”
We know from other reports that Shadows features fully-fledged weather and season simulations, which are likely to be quite heavy draws on the power available in each console. Given that the hardware inside the PS4 and Xbox One is over a decade old now, it’s no real surprise that Ubisoft is starting to sunset support for the ageing consoles.
Which platforms is Assassin’s Creed Shadows coming to?
As for which consoles the game is coming to, you can pre-order Shadows for PS5, Xbox Series XS, and PC. There’s also a Cloud version on Amazon Luna, if that’s your jam.
That’s everything you need to know about why Assassin’s Creed Shadows isn’t coming to PS4 and Xbox One. For more helpful Assassin’s Creed guides, keep reading GGRecon. We’ve also covered all the new gameplay details you need to know about, as well as when the game is set.
About The Author
Joshua Boyles
Joshua is the Guides Editor at GGRecon. After graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in Broadcast Journalism, he previously wrote for publications such as FragHero and GameByte. You can often find him diving deep into fantasy RPGs such as Skyrim and The Witcher, or tearing it up in Call of Duty and Battlefield. He's also often spotted hiking in the wilderness, usually blasting Arctic Monkeys.
