Assassin's Creed Shadows DLC Update

Assassin's Creed: Shadows hits 5 million players, and Ubisoft isn’t slowing down. Just four months after release, the game’s already racked up billions of stealth kills and a billion kilometers of player travel. That number’s going to rise fast because the devs just dropped a heavy post-launch roadmap, and it’s got content lined up for months.

Ubisoft confirmed the first major expansion — Claws of Awaji — launches on September 16. It’s paid DLC, but players who pre-ordered the game get it free. This isn’t just a cosmetic drop either. It’s a full expansion with a new region, fresh gear, enemy factions, and a new story chapter. They’re saying over 10 hours of content, with new bosses and a new weapon to master. Basically, more meat for players who’ve already sliced through the main campaign.

Before that, a New Game Plus mode drops next week on July 29. Expect extra achievements and trophies alongside the usual replay mechanics. Not much else is confirmed about NG+ yet, but it’s coming fast.

Down the line, Ubisoft is also making a few tweaks that people have been asking about. PC players are getting uncapped framerates during cutscenes, and the game will soon let you fast-forward time of day. One subtle change that’ll probably make a huge difference: syncing all viewpoints in a region will now completely clear the map’s fog, so players can chart routes without visual clutter. Simple idea, big quality of life gain.

All of this is part of what Ubisoft calls its full post-launch roadmap, teased in an infographic that highlights the mix of expansion content and polish-focused patches.

While the devs roll out these updates, Ubisoft is already looking at new platforms. CEO Yves Guillemot recently said new versions of Shadows are in development for “other machines.” Since Shadows is already out on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, the safe bet is Nintendo’s next-gen Switch 2. That theory checks out when you factor in CFO Frederick Duguet’s comment from the same call, saying there’s a Ubisoft title coming to Switch 2 beyond what’s been announced. A PEGI rating leak for Shadows on Switch 2 also popped up earlier this year, so at this point it’s less speculation and more slow-roll reveal.

What’s powering this momentum is a huge player base and consistent engagement. In its Q1 FY26 report, Ubisoft boasted that Assassin's Creed: Shadows hits 5 million players, marking another milestone for the series. They backed that up with some wild stats: two billion stealth kills, 38 million animals petted, and a collective one billion kilometers traveled across feudal Japan. The team’s social posts called out the quieter moments too — players pausing to take in the view, soaking in the game’s landscape instead of rushing the mission log.

Reviews for the game have stayed strong since launch. Eurogamer gave it four stars, praising its detail and the dual-storyline structure centered on Yasuke and Naoe. According to them, the most powerful parts of Shadows come when it slows down and focuses on personal stories. That balance of spectacle and intimacy might be why the community's stuck around so long.

There’s also renewed attention thanks to Netflix finally pushing forward on the Assassin’s Creed live-action adaptation. It’s been in limbo for years, but it’s now officially greenlit. Ubisoft’s timing here looks strategic — building a multimedia presence while player counts are still spiking.

Between the solid rollout, incoming NG+ mode, and a DLC with actual narrative weight, Shadows is showing that Ubisoft’s not repeating Mirage’s more contained formula. They’re pushing the series as a platform again. The game’s scale feels like it’s being matched by long-term support.

The Switch 2 port hasn’t been confirmed outright, but the evidence is stacking up. If it happens, it’ll be the first mainline Assassin’s Creed game to launch natively on Nintendo hardware in over a decade. Ubisoft’s been inching toward that possibility ever since portable hardware caught up to open-world performance.

The roadmap’s out, the DLC has a date, and five million assassins are already in the wild. Shadows isn’t done slicing through the calendar yet.