Assassins Creed Shadows early leaks: Physical copies surface online & more

Early leaks floods the Internet with gameplay details

Assassins Creed Shadows doesn’t come out until March 20, 2025, but some lucky (or devious) fans are already exploring feudal Japan.

Physical PS5 copies have surfaced online and many fans have been sharing pictures, videos and spoilers related to the game. Let’s check out more details in this article.

How did this happen?

There are reports suggesting the physical disc of Assassins Creed Shadows has been sold online via marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace and Mercari.

On February 23, 2025, user @DannyStevens__ obtained a copy and shared proof, including box art, install screens, and gameplay snippets. A seller advertised many copies on Mercari for $100 each, and they all went out quickly. Ubisoft has yet to reply, leaving us to wonder how many copies exist and where they originated from.

Also Read: Spider-Man 3 rumors: Peter Parker is in the game, reveals VA Yuri Lowenthal

Gameplay sneak peek: What we know so far?

One leaker, after spending 10-11 hours playing on a base PS5 in quality mode, shared some intriguing details: (SPOILERS)

• So far, he played for 10-11 hours on a base PS5 in quality mode. Extremely outdated build; he can’t even redeem the deluxe outfit coupons that came with his disk, and none of the delay improvements have been implemented yet.
• He found all the major and side quests “very interesting” thus far, and he completed 8 primary objectives in Assassins Creed Shadows.
• You start as Yasuke, with no word or showing of his claimed wife who dies on the trip to Japan, as previously reported by Jonathan and Tom Henderson.
• After Yasuke’s introduction mission, you switch to Naoe, but 9 hours later, he is unable to move back to Yasuke (assuming the two characters have not yet teamed up?).
• There’s a significant number of mo-capped cutscenes and crucial sequences are “very good, almost like a movie” but other NPC interactions are strange where their mouths don’t move.
• The first three hours are filled with movie-like mo-capped sequences in Assassins Creed Shadows.
• -The title card drops two hours into the game, and there is a time skip.
• After the prologue, Naoe schemes to kill Nobunaga (leader of the Shinbakufu) to avenge her father’s death by joining forces with Akechi Mitsuhide.
• The meditation mini-game unlocks flashback cutscenes.
• The game has lived up to his hype, “Ghost of Tsushima with an AC feel with better stealth”
• Gameplay complaint: the dodge and parry system feels way too sluggish for him.
• Except for one cutscene in which a character walks through a wall, the game is well-polished, with no bugs or malfunctions detected in 10-11 hours in Assassins Creed Shadows.
• There is no hair customization so far, but weapon and costume transmogrification is available.
• Feels nostalgic and reminds him of Revelations.
• He stated that he would upload gameplay footage in 5-6 hours of what people want him to show.
• On PSN, there are 55 total trophies for Assassins Creed Shadows, one of which is “Visit all cities on the map”.

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