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Assassin's Creed Shadows: No Second Major Expansion Confirmed

Assassin's Creed Shadows: No Second Major Expansion Confirmed
Assassin's Creed Shadows character in a feudal Japan setting, representing post-launch content strategy.

In a significant shift for the venerable Assassin's Creed franchise, Ubisoft has officially confirmed there are no plans for a second major expansion for the highly anticipated Assassin's Creed Shadows. This decision directly alters previous expectations set by an initially planned, but now abandoned, season pass, signaling a distinct change in the game's post-launch content strategy.

A New Course for Post-Launch Content

Fans of Assassin's Creed Shadows will now look to "Claws of Awaji" as the game's sole major expansion. This 10-hour addition launched in September and was previously described as the "first expansion" within a season pass that was formally discontinued a year ago. The season pass was scrapped when Ubisoft delayed Shadows' launch from November 2024 to February 2025. As an apology for this delay, "Claws of Awaji" was generously offered for free to all pre-order customers.

Associate Game Director Simon Lemay-Comtois, in an interview with JorRaptor, directly addressed fan speculation regarding further content. "As of now, at this moment for Year Two, there is no expansion on the size of Awaji that is planned," Lemay-Comtois stated. While acknowledging historical instances where Ubisoft extended content plans beyond initial visions—such as the Saudi-funded DLC for Assassin's Creed Mirage two years post-launch—the current outlook for Shadows is clear: no second large-scale expansion is on the horizon, nor are there suggestions for a "Year Three" of major content.

Breaking with Franchise Tradition

This strategic pivot is particularly notable given the Assassin's Creed series' track record. Over the past decade, major titles have consistently received multiple substantial expansions. For example:

  • Assassin's Creed Origins (2017): Two expansions (The Hidden Ones, The Curse of the Pharaohs).
  • Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018): Two expansions (Legacy of the First Blade, The Fate of Atlantis).
  • Assassin's Creed Valhalla (2020): Three expansions (Wrath of the Druids, The Siege of Paris, Dawn of Ragnarök), plus numerous smaller DLC drops.

Even the more compact 2023 release, Assassin's Creed Mirage, was originally conceived as an expansion for Valhalla before evolving into a standalone title. The decision to limit Shadows to a single major expansion thus marks a significant departure from established series precedent, reshaping post-launch expectations for the highly anticipated feudal Japan setting.

Development Challenges and Evolving Strategy

Lemay-Comtois offered insight into the factors driving this change. He confirmed that while large-scale season pass-style DLCs are off the table, Ubisoft still plans for "smaller additions" to Shadows into 2026. "We're trying to re-adjust for Year Two a little bit," he explained, indicating a shift towards "more sparse, not a drip-feed... but chunkier updates that shake things up a little more."

A key reason cited for this revised approach stems from the game's demanding development cycle. Lemay-Comtois revealed that Shadows represented "a big jump in generations," requiring extensive "engine work" that consumed significant time and resources. This technological leap complicated early post-launch planning, which started "fairly late" compared to projects on more stable, familiar technology. The production pushes and the game's delay further necessitated an adaptive strategy: "put our ear to the ground when the game launches... and react."

This reactive approach has already seen Shadows receive numerous patches incorporating fan-requested features, demonstrating a commitment to addressing immediate community feedback and improving initial sentiment.

What to Expect in Shadows' Year Two

Looking ahead to 2026, players can anticipate updates "not to the size of a DLC or expansion, but like yesterday's update plus." This refers to a recent free update that introduced a new story quest, an Attack on Titan crossover, and a significant Isu Easter egg. While Lemay-Comtois didn't specify if future updates would remain free, he emphasized this as the minimum size for forthcoming content.

Ubisoft views this approach with Shadows as an "experience we're trying... to keep things small and reactive and see how the community feels about it and reacts to it." The learnings from this strategy are intended to inform future projects, including the next major Assassin's Creed title already in planning by lead developer Ubisoft Quebec.

Amidst numerous confirmed Assassin's Creed projects—including a reported Black Flag remake, a multiplayer spin-off, and the witchcraft-themed Assassin's Creed Hexe—Ubisoft's decision for Shadows signals a calculated evolution in how it approaches post-launch support, prioritizing responsiveness and a more focused content stream over traditional multi-expansion offerings.