Ubisoft has finally shed light on the massive development costs of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, revealing that the open-world action RPG had a development budget exceeding €100 million (approximately $116 million), making it one of the most expensive titles in the franchise’s history.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Massive Budget Confirmed

The information came during Ubisoft’s recent shareholder meeting, where CEO Yves Guillemot and CFO Frederick Duguet discussed various company updates, including a new Ghost Recon project and the commercial struggles of Star Wars Outlaws. Among the details, Guillemot noted (via Game File and TweakTown) that Assassin’s Creed Shadows “cost over €100 million to develop,” though no precise figure was disclosed.

“We don’t disclose production costs. It did cost over €100 million, we’ll say that,” said Guillemot.

While €100 million is a staggering sum, this likely does not include marketing expenses, and with 14 other Ubisoft studios contributing to the project, the true total could be significantly higher.

Why Was the Budget So High?

One major factor behind the high development cost is Ubisoft’s heavy investment in the game engine, which supports the new features and open-world systems unique to Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In addition, the game’s extensive credits list and ongoing live-service elements hint at an even larger scope.

Despite the high cost, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows has proven to be commercially successful:

• It ranked as the third best-selling game in the U.S. year-to-date as of May 2025, according to Circana.
• Ubisoft reported over 3 million players shortly after launch.
• It recorded the second-highest day-one sales in Assassin’s Creed history, beating Odyssey.

More Content Still to Come

Ubisoft isn’t done yet with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The game continues to receive free updates, including:

• New Game Plus
• Nightmare Difficulty
• The first expansion, Claws of Awaji, launching later this year
• A co-op mode reportedly set for release in 2026

These updates suggest the game’s development costs may continue to rise as new features roll out.

Launched in March 2025, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the first mainline entry in the series to skip PS4 and Xbox One, focusing instead on next-gen hardware including PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.