Assassin's Creed: Shadows Won't Have Social Stealth Mechanics, Ubisoft Confirms

Summary

• When Assassin's Creed first launched in 2007, social stealth was a major addition that revolutionized the stealth genre.
• It became a focal point of later Assassin's Creed games, though it's been ditched as AC has shifted to an action RPG.
• There was hope that social stealth would return in Assassin's Creed: Shadows, though Ubisoft clarified that it does not exist.

When the original Assassin's Creed launched in 2007 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, it represented a huge shift in the stealth video game genre. Whereas games like Splinter Cell, also from Ubisoft, and Metal Gear Solid required players to remember the path of guards or to shut off lights, Assassin's Creed employed what it called "social stealth." Through the mechanic, players could blend in with crowds, walk alongside NPCs and other actions that allow them to "blend in," or not draw attention.

The mechanic immediately became a hit as it forced players to actively find ways to reduce enemy awareness in creative ways. It then became a marquee feature of the franchise following the 2007 original. However, in recent years, the mechanic has been dropped altogether as the series shifted from a stealth action game to an action RPG. It made a slight comeback in 2023's Assassin's Creed: Mirage, which was a throwback title akin to Assassin's Creed's of old.

With the announcement of Assassin's Creed: Shadows, which is set to launch on November 12, there had been hope in the Assassin's Creed community that social stealth would make a comeback. That is in large part due to the game having dual protagonists, of which Naoe, the female protagonist, is a ninja that relies on stealth. However, it appears that will not be the case as Ubisoft put those hopes to bed on Friday.

Assassin's Creed: Shadows Has Other Stealth Mechanics In Place

The news comes by way of a report from Stephen Totilo, who wrote about his experiences with Shadows during last week's Summer Game Fest. After mistakenly being told that social stealth would be in the game, Totilo received a correction via Ubisoft, where it was confirmed that the mechanic did not exist in Shadows.

Through that correction, Ubisoft clarified that Naoe would not blend in with crowds or become low profile. Instead, she is "not distinguishable in the crowd." Per Ubisoft, Naoe is also invisible by default to NPCs, as well as unnoticeable by the military. She will, however, become noticed by the military if she starts "doing illegal things, like swinging her sword, climbing, or using prone navigation in the street."

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On the other end, Yasuke, the first black samurai, will not have any stealth mechanics, at least not in the traditional sense. That's because he's impossible to blend into the crowd, according to Ubisoft. That was to be expected, because in a gameplay demo, Yasuke is much bigger than other NPCs. However, it is disappointing for Naoe.

By making Naoe unnoticeable by default, it takes agency out of the player's hands. Part of the appeal of the original social stealth mechanics is it required gamers to be aware of their surroundings and the opportunities that existed in the open world to walk alongside crowds or sit on a park bench. Still, the presence of two protagonists does allow players to experiment with two different playstyles, which is something that had been missing. Only time will tell, though, how Shadows' stealth mechanics are received.

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