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Ubisoft responds to Ghost of Yotei and Assassin's Creed Shadows comparisons as its own open-world samurai game slips to 2025, stressing its dual protagonist approach
Ghost of Yotei, the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, has drawn comparisons to Assassin's Creed Shadows, a multiplatform release from Ubisoft set in feudal Japan, leading to concerns about potential competition between the two titles. Ubisoft maintains its focus on delivering a unique experience with Shadows' dual protagonists and a focus on the Azuchi-Momoyama period, while Ghost of Yotei differentiates itself with a solo female Ghost and a setting in Hokkaido, Japan.
The reveal of Ghost of Yotei, the de facto Ghost of Tsushima sequel and the latest open-world adventure from Sucker Punch, drew a lot of comparisons to Assassin's Creed Shadows at this week's PlayStation State of Play. With Ubisoft's own open-world samurai epic now delayed to 2025, the same year Ghost of Yotei is targeting for launch, those comparisons intensified and ultimately reached the publisher's executives, with CFO Frederick Duguet fielding a question about Ghost of Yotei in a conference call earlier today, September 25.
"Ghost of Yotei, the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, looks to me – perhaps I'm not into it deeply enough – but it looks an awful lot to me like Assassin's Creed Shadows," one investor said during the call's Q&A portion. "We're talking about that game, Ghost of Yotei, coming out in 2025. Is there a risk that you start bumping into that one, that people will not buy Shadows because they're waiting for Ghost of Yotei in a few months' time to get their fix of a Japanese game in that vein?"
"On the competition related to Assassin's Creed Shadows, the focus really is to make sure we deliver a fantastic experience with this dual protagonist approach with different and complementary gameplay, with Yasuke and Naoe, in the setting taking place in this feudal Japan, which should be really enticing," Duguet replied. "All the focus and everything that really informs our decision is to make sure that we polish the game and provide this fantastic promise."
Ghost of Yotei is still listed as a PS5 exclusive (Ghost of Tsushima only came to PC years later), while Assassin's Creed Shadows, which increasingly looks like a critical moment for Ubisoft, will be a multiplatform release, so the arena for open-world feudal Japan competition is relatively limited.
Ubisoft is leaning into its own spin on the period, specifically the Azuchi-Momoyama period from roughly 1568 to 1600, as well as Shadows' two protagonists to stand out. Yotei, meanwhile, is set in 1603 in what's now Hokkaido, Japan, and stars new solo female Ghost Atsu .