Assassin's Creed Shadows Cancels Both Early Access & Season Passes Alongside Collector's Edition Price Drop

screenrant.com:

Ubisoft is making some major changes to its usual formula asit scraps the bonus early access period and season pass for . The upcoming entry in the ever-popular franchise has been at the center of a controversy whirlwind after many fans complained about its inaccurate depiction of Japanese history, while Ubisoft itself has been struggling to meet expectations across the board, prompting the company to delay its next major game. The developer has promised that it's working on changing some of ' content, but that's not all of its tweaking.

Per GameSpot, will no longer sport an early access period for consumers who purchase the Deluxe or Collector's Edition. Moreover, Ubisoft is seemingly doing its best to appease disgruntled fans by scrapping the game's Season Pass, although what will become of the additional content remains to be seen; It will most likely be added as free expansions rather than as paid-for DLC. To accommodate these adjustments, the Collector's Edition is dropping its price from $280 to $230 but will still include all the other previously announced goodies.

The myriad changes hitting , which also includes launching on Steam as opposed to being a Ubisoft Connect and Epic Games Store exclusive, is indicative of a major shift in Ubisoft's priorities. The publisher has recently suffered a string of disappointing releases: While was enjoyed by many, its sales, much like,, and, disappointed the company. It openly admitted that most of its recent releases haven't hit expectations, suggesting some major changes are needed.

In the eyes of fans, Ubisoft has become known as a company that places more emphasis on monetization and live-service experiences, a move that's left many disappointed with its current direction. The decision to scrap the season pass and the early access bonus for feels like an olive branch of sorts, as does the Day-One launch on Steam. Whether this will be Ubisoft's default strategy going forward remains to be seen but if successful, it's