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Fans are finally getting an AC game set in Feudal Japan. In this article, we will take a look at the Assassin’s Creed Shadows timeline.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the next installment in Ubisoft’s long-running Assassin’s Creed video game franchise. The series is almost a decade old. And despite going through numerous changes in terms of direction and game design, the IP still holds a huge community with both old and new fans.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows was originally planned to be released in November 2024, but after numerous delays, the game is finally coming out on March 20, 2025. Ubisoft Quebec are the developers of the game; they also made AC Odyssey and Syndicate.
The fans have been asking for an AC game set in Feudal Japan for a while now. Ubisoft finally answered their fans’ request with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The game is set in 16th-century Japan towards the end of the Sengoku Period. In the game, we follow two protagonists: Naoe is a female shinobi, and Yasuke is a samurai based on a real historical figure.
However, with so many games set in historical periods, the timeline of the universe can get a bit convoluted. So in simple terms, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set between AC Revelations and AC 4: Black Flag. But in this article, we are going to take a deep dive into where Shadows truly falls in the vast AC timeline.
The Timeline of Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Assassin’s Creed games typically have historical settings such as Ancient Egypt and Renaissance Italy. AC Shadows takes place in another notable historical location. The developers have confirmed that the game will begin in 1579 Japan. This is also the year Yasuke, the historical figure, first appeared in Japanese land.
However, we do not yet know how many years the story of the game will span over. Historical texts tell us that Yasuke was an African civilian. He was brought to Japan, where he served Oda Nobunaga from 1579 to 1582. So it is safe to assume that the game will span over at least three years and maybe more.
Now that we have set the game in the real-world timeline, let’s take a look at where it will stand in the universe of the IP. From what we know, the two closest AC games to Shadows in the franchise are AC Revelations and AC4: Black Flag, respectively.
Assassin’s Creed Revelations takes place in Constantinople during the rise of the Ottoman Empire in 1511 AD, which is 68 years before the events of Shadows. AC 4: Black Flag takes place around the islands of the Caribbean Sea in the early 18th century, 135 years after Shadows. Additionally, we are going to give you a brief chronological timeline of the AC games below.
| Assassin’s Creed Games | Time-Period and Location Setting |
| AC Odyssey (2018) | 431 to 422 BCE, Ancient Greece. |
| AC Origins (2017) | 49 to 44 BCE, Ancient Egypt. |
| AC Mirage (2023) | 861 CE to TBA, Baghdad. |
| AC Valhalla (2020) | 872 to 878 CE, Norway, and England. |
| Assassin’s Creed (2007) | 1191 CE to TBA, The Holy Land (Modern day Palestine, Israel, and Syria). |
| AC 2 (2009) | 1476 to 1499 CE, Renaissance Italy. |
| AC: Brotherhood (2010) | 1499 to 1507 CE, Renaissance Italy. |
| AC: Revelations (2011) | 1511 to 1512 CE, Masyaf (Syria). |
| AC: Shadows (2025) | 1579 CE to TBA, Feudal Japan. |
| AC 4: Black Flag (2013) | 1715 to 1722 CE, The Islands around the Carribean Sea. |
| AC: Rogue (2014) | 1752 to 1760 CE, North Atlantic. |
| AC 3 (2012) | 1754 to 1783 CE, North America. |
| AC: Unity (2014) | 1789 to 1794 CE, France. |
| AC: Syndicate (2015) | 1868 CE to TBA, United Kingdom. |
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Time-Period
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will begin towards the end of the Sengoku period as we discussed earlier. However, there are other events in the franchise that have occurred during or close to the same time period as AC Shadows. Assassin’s Creed did feature a Japanese assassin before Shadows, and it was Hattori Hanzo.
The developers might surprise the fans because the Japanese samurai has a high chance of appearing in the new installment. After all, according to the lore, Hanzo was trained in the Iga province, which is the same place Naoe is from, according to the lore. Additionally, at some point in time, Hanzo and Yasuke might come to a crossroads because Yasuke serves Oda Nobunaga, whom Hattori Hanzo killed in the games.
We cannot speak about the modern-day story thread for Shadows because we don’t yet have any reports about that part of the game from the developers or the content creators who went to a recent gameplay preview. However, we do know that a modern-day storyline exists in Shadows, unlike AC Mirage, which did not have a modern-day section in the game. But players did discover an audio file in Mirage that referred to the 21st century as ancient history, indicating that Ubisoft might take the modern-day segment of upcoming AC games to a future setting.
Conclusion
That is all we know about Assassin’s Creed Shadows and its place in the AC timeline so far. We hope you found this article helpful. Feel free to check out our other AC Shadows-related articles here.
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