A month from launch, Ubisoft confirms "players have accessed Assassin's Creed Shadows ahead of its official release," advises you "stay in the shadows" to avoid spoilers

Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing female protagonist Naoe
(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Assassin's Creed Shadows has leaked almost a month ahead of its March 20 release date, Ubisoft has confirmed.

Spotted by the folks over at Resetera, and independently verified by GamesRadar+, a member of Ubisoft's community team shared the following message to the official Assassin's Creed Discord:

"We are aware players have accessed Assassin's Creed Shadows ahead of its official release. The development team is still working on patches to prepare the experience for launch and any footage shared online does not represent the final quality of the game. Leaks are unfortunate and can diminish the excitement for players. We kindly ask you not to spoil the experience for others. Thank you to our community for already taking steps to protect everyone from spoilers.

"Stay in the shadows, avoid the spoilers, and keep an eye on our channel for more official surprises in the coming weeks!"

IGN and other outlets had previously reported that since-deleted social media posts included pictures and video from someone who claimed to have obtained a copy of the game from an online marketplace. TheGamer reported that copies of Assassin's Creed Shadows were appearing on a US auction site and selling for $100 each. Meanwhile, VGC reported that several streamers were playing the game on Twitch and that those streams have since been removed from the website.

I've reached out to Ubisoft for comment and will update this article if I hear back.

These are all the upcoming Assassin's Creed games you need to know about.

Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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