Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek’s network of contributors
Assassin’s Creed Shadow is very nearly here, and we know how sitting around waiting for a game to become available can be agonizing. Thankfully, Ubisoft have given us all the information we need on when the game will be launching, although it’s a little more complicated than most games.
While most games deal with different launch times between the console and PC versions, AC Shadows has two different PC versions: one on Steam and one on Ubisoft Connect, and in some regions, they also have different launch times. We’ll break down all the versions of the game so you know when you can get your hands on the game.
AC Shadows PS5 and Xbox Launch Times
Ubisoft
On PS5 and Xbox, the game will launch at midnight your local time, making it a staggered global launch. This makes it possible to perform the New Zealand trick to get your hands on the game early (as long as you aren’t in New Zealand).
On Xbox, you need to navigate to your settings and select “Language and Location” there, find your location and change it to New Zealand. Restart your console and your Xbox will think it’s in New Zealand, letting the game unlock at 7am ET on March 19.
AC Shadows Steam Launch Times
Ubisoft
Steam has a simultaneous global launch at midnight ET on March 20, so here’s what that means for your time zone:
- 9pm PT (March 19)
- 12am ET
- 1am BRT
- 4am GMT
- 5am CET
- 8am GST
- 1pm JST
- 3pm AEDT
- 5pm NZDT
The lone exception is China, which will see the game launch at midnight CST on March 20.
AC Shadows Ubisoft Connect Launch Times
Ubisoft Connect is the most complicated of the three, as the launch times are staggered depending on where Ubisoft’s servers are located. Here is a rundown of when the game launches in each time zone:
- 9pm PT, March 19
- 10pm Central, March 19
- 12am ET, March 20
- 1am BRT, March 20
- 10pm GMT, March 19
- 11pm CET, March 19
- 2am GST, March 20
- 8pm CST, March 19
- 9pm JST, March 19
- 11pm AEDT, March 19
How to Play AC Shadows as Early as Possible
With all these different methods, it can be hard to tell who’s getting the game earliest. The answer is to use the New Zealand trick on PS5 or Xbox. However, if you’d rather play on PC, then you can also use a VPN on PC to use the New Zealand trick on Ubisoft Connect and play early that way.