How much could Assassin's Creed Shadows have cost to make? Ubisoft CEO once revealed how delay affected them financially

After facing several delays, Assassin's Creed Shadows is finally out and is performing exceptionally well in the market, surpassing the last few titles in the franchise. Long-term fans of the series are thrilled to finally explore the feudal Japan setting, which they have been eagerly awaiting for a long time.

However, one question on many players' minds is: how much did Ubisoft invest in AC Shadows' development? The company has not yet disclosed the exact figure. However, video game experts have made several speculations, estimating the development cost to be between $250 million and $350 million.

In 2024, Ubisoft's CEO revealed that the title's multiple delays would incur an additional €20 million in costs, equivalent to approximately $21.6 million.

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Ubisoft CEO's statement regarding Assassin's Creed Shadows' delay

It cost Ubisoft an additional $20 million to delay the game (Image via Ubisoft)

Assassin's Creed Shadows was originally scheduled for release in November 2024. However, in September 2024, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot postponed the launch to February 2025.

During this announcement, Guillemot disclosed that the delay would result in an additional €20 million in costs for the company. He explained the reason behind the postponement, stating:

“While the game is feature complete, the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title. This will enable the biggest entry in the franchise to fully deliver on its ambition, notably by fulfilling the promise of our dual protagonist adventure, with Naoe and Yasuke bringing two very different gameplay styles.”

In January 2025, Marc-Alexis Côté from Ubisoft announced another delay, pushing the release date to March 2025. He wrote:

"While we've already made remarkable strides, we believe a few additional weeks are needed to implement that feedback and ensure an even more ambitious and engaging day-one experience."

Fortunately, Ubisoft's efforts paid off. Recently, the company announced on X that Assassin's Creed Shadows had surpassed one million players across all platforms within just a few hours. The post read:

"It's not even 4PM here in Canada and Assassin's Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players! Thank YOU from the bottom of our hearts for joining this adventure in Feudal Japan. We are beyond excited to start this journey with you!"

Assassin's Creed Shadows is available to buy via Steam, PlayStation Store, and Xbox Game Store.