Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Free Updates to Feature New Game Plus and Fresh Story Content

Alright, so get this—Ubisoft’s up to more shenanigans with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. They’re dropping updates like confetti at a parade. Seriously, “free updates on the regular”—that’s what they’re saying. Expect all sorts of goodies like a new game plus mode, fresh quests, even more story stuff, plus those community tweaks everyone’s been yammering about. This was the big news they dropped on Wednesday, and honestly, it’s got me intrigued.

First up on the list? Claws of Awaji. Yeah, it sounds like something straight out of a kung fu movie. This expansion’s set to hit later this year, popping open a whole new spot on the game map: Awaji Island. So, picture this—Japan’s Inland Sea, right? It’s just chilling there, east coast-ish. Technically, it’s already on the map, a little tease lying west of Sakai. But soon, you can actually poke around in it.

Now, here’s where it gets spicy: Naoe and Yasuke are back at it, continuing their saga right off the Shadows’ epilogue. Ubisoft promises 10 extra hours of gameplay, and Naoe levels up with a bo—this awesome staff for those cool martial arts moves. If you were smart and pre-ordered, you snagged this expansion as a bonus. Everyone else? Still no clue on the price tag.

Beyond Claws of Awaji, we’ve got these free things called Story Drops. Sounds like a band name, right? First one’s dropping in May, titled “The Works of Luis Frois.” If you don’t know Frois, he’s this Jesuit missionary dude who crash-lands in Japan with Yasuke when Shadows kicks off. Second Story Drop is slated for June, and guess what? You get to recruit another buddy into the League of the Hidden Blade. Each drop’s set to shake things up with new backstory bits—Ubisoft’s words, not mine.

But wait, there’s more! Quality-of-life tweaks are being cooked up too. After the recent patch, which gave our hero’s horse a mind of its own (auto-follow, hello), they’re adding fresh parkour tricks for Naoe and Yasuke. I’m crossing my fingers for the return of selling or dismantling stuff in bulk, which they pulled due to bugs—those sneaky little glitches.

And if you’ve ever been frustrated by not being able to jump to a ledge that seems like you can totally reach it—those patch folks are on it. Oh, and due to popular demand, they’re working on letting characters wear headgear during cutscenes. Big updates coming too: think brand new game plus mode with a beefier level cap, tougher stealth and combat difficulties. Probably gonna die a lot more often, huh?

Anyway, that’s the scoop from Ubisoft’s world. Stay tuned for more chaotic fun!