Highlights
- The map size for Assassin's Creed Shadows will be smaller, focusing on the diverse landscape of mountainous feudal Japan.
- Associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois compared Shadow's map size to that of Assassin's Creed: Origins.
- The narrative of Assassin's Creed Shadows in 16th century Japan justifies the smaller map size, hinting at a more focused and engaging experience.
Following Ubisoft Forward, associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois confirms the smaller map size of Assassin's Creed Shadows' take on Feudal Japan. It's been a big few days for the upcoming action game Assassin's Creed Shadows, as it was heavily featured at various summer events like Ubisoft Forward and Xbox Games Showcase.
Fans got a great look at Assassin's Creed Shadows' dual protagonists of the stealthy Naoe and the bruising Yasuke through a short gameplay demo, while giving fans a small glimpse at some of the new gameplay tools and mechanics they'll have access to as well. Ubisoft showcased how the weather as well as the night and day cycle can change how players approach missions. In fact, players have near complete control over which character they'd prefer to play, with Ubisoft revealing that the game will allow the use of one or both protagonists as much or as little as the player wants. One question that remained for many is just how big this map will be and, thankfully, the answer may please most.
Assassin's Creed Shadows Devs Detail Benefits of Going to Japan After All This Time
Assassin's Creed Shadows devs talk about the various benefits of its Japan setting in conjunction with the benefits of modern gaming hardware.
In an interview with VideoGamesChronicle, Assassin's Creed Shadows associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois was asked about the game's overall map size. With both Valhalla and Odyssey featuring massive playspaces, Lemay-Comtois confirmed that AC: Shadows won't be following that trend. Instead, the game will be closer in scale to Assassin's Creed Origins, making it slightly smaller overall.
Assassin's Creed Shadows: Smaller Map, Diverse Geography
Even with the slightly smaller map, Ubisoft is promising a much more diverse landscape than what was previously seen in Valhalla's rolling hills, or the major waterways of Odyssey. Lemay-Comtois highlighted the fact that Japan is much more mountainous, and the scout team for Ubisoft indicated that there are plenty of interesting things to check out within the many valleys. Ultimately, the map size was dictated more by the narrative Ubisoft is trying to tell by taking Assassin's Creed Shadows to 16th century Feudal Japan, with most of the action taking place in the central portions of the country instead of trying to represent the entire landmass.
So it’s kind of a tricky thing to develop, but eventually we find our footing with the types of cities and castles that we want to represent and that’s what justifies the size of our world map.
Map size has been a big focus of the Assassin's Creed series as of late, with both Odyssey and Valhalla featuring some of the biggest maps ever seen in the franchise. While many in the community expressed concerns over the size detracting from the once tightly drawn narratives the original games featured, Ubisoft made a hard pivot with Assassin's Creed Mirage in 2023. While it was reworked into a standalone title, Mirage took the Assassin's Creed franchise back to its roots, becoming more linear and story-focused and stripping away much of the RPG elements that have increased with the recent games. While fans were given an open Baghdad map to explore, the overall space was much smaller and more focused, bringing back the "Black Box" design philosophy last seen with Unity and Syndicate.
