Assassin’s Creed Shadows devs hint at 40+ hour campaign and new modern narrative

Assassin’s Creed Shadows developers have teased what players can expect from the story length and modern narrative.

With a couple of months to go before its release, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has re-entered the spotlight with a new gameplay overview highlighting combat, the dual protagonists, and weapons.

Key developers participated in a Reddit AMA shortly after the overview went live, answering various fan questions about everything from the main story to side quests.

Given the sheer scale of Assassin’s Creed’s most recent installments, series faithful couldn’t help but ask how much of a time investment the main quest will require.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows devs hint at main story length

Addressing fan questions in a Reddit AMA, one developer noted that while open-world elements make the game’s length difficult to evaluate, AC Shadows’ “main journey is comparable to Origins/Odyssey and Valhalla.”

This suggests players should not expect a tighter story in the vein of Mirage or AC’s pre-RPG days.

After all, based on How Long to Beat data, the average playtime between the campaigns for Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla is about 45 hours.

Ubisoft

On top of discussing the length of the main quest, Assassin’s Creed Shadows crew members teased the modern-day narrative.

Valhalla’s modern storyline followed the Layla Hassan character introduced in Origins, before passing the baton to Basim – who led Mirage’s historical and modern tales.

Without sharing spoilers, Ubisoft devs told fans in the AMA: “Shadows will lay the groundwork for a new chapter of Modern narrative that will be different than what we have done in the past…”

The next chapter will remain connected to the established modern-day lore and evolve in AC’s Animus Hub and future installments.

Though the team confirmed Basim won’t play a part in Shadows, unused content in his AC Mirage adventure indicated the modern story could eventually move to a distant future setting. But the particulars will likely remain under lock and key until Shadows finally hits stores in February 2025.