Images for an Assassin’s Creed Shadows battle pass have allegedly leaked online, showing off a selection of rewards that players will supposedly be able to unlock when the open-world game launches next year. If it is legitimate, this will be the first time that an Assassin’s Creed game has had a battle pass for players to work through.
The images and datamined information suggest that players will be able to progress through a free tier via a series of daily missions in the new Animus hub, unlocking a variety of cosmetics to equip their characters and weapons with. While Ubisoft hasn’t officially confirmed the existence of a battle pass, the company has issued a DMCA takedown on the Reddit thread gathering up the images–which were originally uncovered by dataminer Fraxiswinning–and on social media platforms.
Some of the cosmetics include futuristic weapon skins and armor alongside mythological mounts and resources that players can use inside the game, and one of the other leaked images shows co-protagonist Yasuke standing inside the Animus hub.
While the battle-pass system will be new to Assassin’s Creed, the idea of cosmetic gear in the game is something that has been around for many years now. The Ubisoft Connect app has regularly offered unlockable gear for completing in-game challenges, and recent games featured a seemingly immortal merchant named Reda who traded rare equipment to players in exchange for elusive–but easy to buy with actual cash–resources like Opals.
Originally scheduled to launch in October, Assassin’s Creed Shadows was delayed to February 14, 2025 so that its developers would have more time to polish the game. The new entry in the series will also lay the groundwork for future games, as it’ll be integrated inside the Assassin’s Creed Infinity hub, an in-universe Animus where the ongoing modern-day narrative will play out.
Assassin’s Creed boss Marc-Alexis Coté recently spoke about this aspect of Assassin’s Creed Games, and how Ubisoft is aiming to introduce a new direction for the storylines set in modern times.
