Assassin’s Creed Codename Red gets new title ahead of reveal this week

By Tomas Franzese Published May 13, 2024

Ubisoft

Ubisoft confirmed that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the name of its upcoming Assassin’s Creed game set in feudal Japan. We’ll learn more about it later this week.

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This project was previously referred to as Assassin’s Creed Codename Red. Ubisoft announced it during a live stream in 2022, confirming its feudal Japanese setting, that the company considers it the next “premium flagship” Assassin’s Creed game, and that it’s developed by Ubisoft Quebec.

Now known as Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it will be an open-world RPG. That means it will be more similar to the likes of Assassin’s Creed Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla rather than Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Little is known about the game’s story, with Ubisoft simply saying that it will allow players to “live a very powerful shinobi fantasy.”

We have not gotten any updates on it since its 2022 reveal, with Ubisoft’s attention primarily being on releasing Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which launched on PC and consoles last October and comes to Apple devices in June. Now, its focus is on Assassin’s Creed Shadows as we head into its Ubisoft Forward next month. Before that, Ubisoft will release a cinematic world premiere trailer at 9 a.m. PT this Wednesday, May 15.

Assassin's Creed Codename Red becomes Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Tune-in for the Official Cinematic World Premiere Trailer on May 15, 9 AM PT.#AssassinsCreedShadows pic.twitter.com/GF0BWqVOhS

— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) May 13, 2024

Platforms and a release window for Assassin’s Creed Shadows have not been confirmed yet. However, its Ubisoft Store page is live, and it’s already possible to wish list the game there. It isn’t the only Assassin’s Creed game Ubisoft has in the pipeline either, as the mobile game Assassin’s Creed Jade and the supernatural Codename: Hexe are both also still in the works.

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A former Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese now reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

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How to get Knowledge Points and what they do in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

One of the protagonists in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

By the time we get to Assassin's Creed Shadows, most of us will be familiar with how the games work. Since transitioning more towards RPGs than stealth games, the titles have not only gotten longer but also embraced skill trees. Naoe and Yasuke each have unique progression paths to work through, but right away you will notice that most of the best abilities are gated off. Like Scouts, Knowledge Points are a new feature that you will need to master if you want to be the best assassin possible. We'll share all our knowledge about Knowledge Points with you.
How Knowledge Points work and how to get them

Knowledge Points are a separate system to XP that allows both Naoe and Yasuke to unlock the better and more powerful skills in all their skill trees. Unlike XP, you can't earn them by performing normal tasks or taking out enemies. Instead, Knowledge Points are rewarded for doing specific non-violent activities in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

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How long is Assassin’s Creed Shadows?

Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows fighting an enemy. He's dressed in his samurai armor.

It's no secret that the Assassin's Creed games have gotten longer and longer over the years. This is typical for Ubisoft open-world titles, but many are hoping that Assassin's Creed Shadows has scaled back on the bloat a bit. There's always fast travel and finding the fastest ways to earn XP to cut down on the grind, but there's only so much time that can be saved. If you're worried that this game might be another 100-hour time investment to fully complete, let's use our Eagle Vision to scout out how long Assassin's Creed Shadows is before you start playing.
How long is Assassin's Creed Shadows?

As you would expect, the amount of time you could put into Assassin's Creed Shadows will vary wildly based on how you approach it. You can focus on just the story and nothing else, tackle a handful of side missions and activities, or attempt to complete anything and everything the game has to offer.

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Assassin’s Creed Shadows fixes my biggest problem with the series

The two protagonists in Assassin's Creed Shadows

The Assassin's Creed games have been on a steady path away from stealth ever since the series' first entry. I don't mean that stealth options were stripped out or haven't evolved, but it lagged behind the pace of a more direct approach. While Origins is seen as the major splintering point for the series into a full-blown action RPG, the series' identity crisis can be traced back much further. By the time we got Black Flag, stealth had become so inefficient and inessential that there was hardly a reason to bother with it at all outside of self-imposed challenges.

When the series did pivot into action RPGs, complete with weapon and armor scores, and made the protagonists more and more powerful, I fell off of the franchise. It not that I don't enjoy that style of game, rather that it wasn't what I came to Assassin's Creed for. With Assassin's Creed Shadows Ubisoft finally fixed that power creep problem without stripping those options out of the game. And that's thanks to its two character setup.
Jack of all trades, master of all
What caused me to fall out of favor with Assassin's Creed isn't that the series wanted to give players more options outside of a stealthy approach. Plenty of games proudly boast how they offer players the freedom to play sneaky or go in guns blazing. However, the issue with Assassin's Creed's for me was that one method invalidated the other.