Assassin’s Creed Shadows features a Canon Mode that makes every dialogue decision for the player instead of having them choose, Ubisoft has revealed.
Creative director Jonathan Dumont was asked by a fan on Reddit how much weight player choices have in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. “Choices come more into play when recruiting allies and romancing some of the characters,” Dumont said, before revealing the ability to remove these choices altogether.
“Since the fanbase is divided on branching dialogues, we have incorporated an option called Canon Mode which allows you to play the game with choices already made for you, to give you a choice free experience,” he added. “Hope this makes it fun for everyone.”
Role-playing games have long included dialogue options that allow players to shape the story, but Assassin’s Creed picked up branching dialogue when it shifted to a full-on RPG series with Assassin’s Creed Origins. Clearly, some fans preferred more concrete stories like that of Ezio’s in Assassin’s Creed 2.
Ubisoft will therefore hope fans of both options will pick up Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which could be the most important entry in the franchise’s history. Not only does it have a lot riding on it as the long-awaited Feudal Japan-set entry and the first full Assassin’s Creed since 2020, but a struggling Ubisoft needs it to perform well following recent flops.
It’s not enjoyed a particularly positive promotional period so far, however. Issues began as some fans expressed frustration with inaccuracies in the game’s depiction of Japan, leading the development team to issue an apology and say the game is not intended to be a factual representation of history but instead “a compelling, historical fiction.” This comes despite art director Thierry Dansereau telling IGN that Ubisoft looked to make Shadows as “authentic as possible to match historical events” just two months prior.
Concern was also raised when the developer used a flag from a Japanese historical re-enactment group in artwork for Assassin’s Creed Shadows without permission. Ubisoft apologized for doing so but refused to remove the artwork from the aforementioned and presumably already printed artbook available in the Collector’s Edition. The historical re-enactment group said this was not good enough, but Ubisoft hasn’t publicly acknowledged it since.
Yet another controversy came as collectible figure maker PureArts removed an Assassin’s Creed Shadows statue from sale over its “insensitive” design.
Fans are also frustrated by the delay to the game, as Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which was originally due out in November before being pushed to February 14. This puts Assassin’s Creed Shadows in more direct competition with PlayStation’s Ghost of Tsushima sequel, Ghost of Yotei, another 2025 open-world action adventure game set in Feudal Japan.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot maintained confidence, however. “There’s a lot of space for very high-quality games, and those two games can sell very well,” he said in the company’s latest earnings call. “The focus is to really make sure that we deliver a fantastic experience with this dual protagonist approach and two different and complimentary gameplays.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
