Assassin’s Creed Shadows Offers Free Updates: New Game Plus and Fresh Storylines

So, here’s the thing about Ubisoft and its Assassin’s Creed Shadows — they’re all like, “Hey, we’ve got updates coming your way, more than you can imagine.” I’m not even kidding, it’s like a smorgasbord of new stuff. They’re tossing in “free updates on the regular,” with goodies like a new game plus mode, new quests, story expansions, and a bunch of tweaks they swear the community wanted. Yeah, you heard that right, they said this on Wednesday.

Now, about this Claws of Awaji thing. It’s their first expansion, or so they say. It’s dropping later this year, all set to plop you on Awaji Island. And okay, it’s not like Awaji is new. It’s literally chilling on the map already, just west of Sakai city. But soon you get to actually roam around there, not just stare at it from afar. How thrilling, right?

So, Claws of Awaji, it’s all about Naoe and Yasuke, picking up right where Shadows’ epilogue left off. Expect about 10 hours of stuff to keep you busy, including a new weapon — the bo. Imagine a stick with style, part of some Japanese martial arts deal. Pre-order folks get it as a bonus, but the rest? No clue on the price yet. Typical, huh?

And then there are these Story Drops — starting with “The Works of Luis Frois” in May. Frois was this Jesuit dude who apparently kicks things off with Yasuke. The next one’s dropping in June, letting you bring another ally into the League of the Hidden Blade. Each drop is gonna add backstory that changes everything. So they say.

Oh, and for the nitty-gritty types, there are quality-of-life improvements coming. They patched in some auto-follow feature for horses — because who wants to steer those anyway? Parkour’s getting a boost, too. I mean, how annoying to not grab a ledge that’s right there, right? That’s supposedly being fixed. They’re also bringing back some bug-fixing bits like dismantling items in bulk. Let’s see how long it sticks this time.

There’s more — wanna wear headgear in cutscenes? It’s on the list. Plus, imagine a new game plus mode with higher level caps. Stealth and combat are getting tougher, too. Guess they’re really putting the “assassin” back in Assassin’s Creed, if that makes any sense.