Ever since Assassin’s Creed Origins, Ubisoft has pushed the series towards a live service model, opting to support each game over a long period of time with free updates and DLC.
And to be fair, it’s a model that’s proven to be successful; Assassin’s Creed Valhalla ended up being the franchise’s most profitable instalment to date off the back of two whole years of support.
But these major updates and DLCs do, of course, have a cost in terms of resources — and that’s what Assassin’s Creed Shadows director Simon Lemay-Comtois gets at in a new interview with YouTube channel Access the Animus.
Ubisoft has explained its methods in the past, but Lemay-Comtois reiterates: “Microtransactions, for all the flak it gets, it allows us to do the Isu stuff, the quest stuff, the parkour updates, all of it.”
The idea is that each Assassin’s Creed titles funds its own ongoing support through paid content. Shadows, for example, gets premium equipment packs on a regular basis, featuring themed weapons, armour, and cosmetics.
We wouldn’t call them microtransactions given that they’re actually rather expensive, but again, it’s apparently a model that works well for the franchise.
It’s not without issue, however — particularly in the case of Shadows. Just this week, the title received a new update that introduces an Attack on Titan crossover quest, of all things. The quest is entirely free for all players — but the rewards are meagre at best.
Indeed, the update’s marketing showcases cool Attack on Titan-themed outfits, but they’re actually locked behind an accompanying paid DLC pack. The same thing happened with Shadows’ Dead by Daylight crossover quest a few months back.
So it’s certainly not all sunshine and rainbows for dedicated players, but in a different interview with YouTube channel JorRaptor, Lemay-Comtois assures fans that bigger updates are in the pipeline, and the dev team’s definitely not done with Shadows yet.
“[We’re working on] chunkier updates that shake things up,” he says, although he does state that there are currently no plans to release a second, Claws of Awaji-style expansion in 2026.
“As of now, at this moment for Year Two, there is no expansion on the size of [Claws of Awaji] that is planned, currently […] We’re still working on content for post-launch and supporting it, but it’s not a full-on DLC the way a season pass would have had in previous years.”
So there you have it. It looks like Shadows will be getting a second year of support, and there’s scope for larger content drops — but don’t go expecting any big story-driven DLCs.
What do you think of the modern approach of Assassin’s Creed? Are you okay with microtransactions as long as they continue to fund free updates, or is Shadows leaning a little too far into the model? Equip some better gear in the comments section below.
Robert (or Rob if you’re lazy) is an assistant editor of Push Square, and has been a fan of PlayStation since the 90s, when Tekken 2 introduced him to the incredible world of video games. He still takes his fighting games seriously, but RPGs are his true passion. The Witcher, Persona, Dragon Quest, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy, Trails, Tales — he’s played ’em all. A little too much, some might say.