In a message posted on social media, the team advised that the delay was in the "best interest of the game" and promised that although pre-orders are being cancelled, all future pre-orders will get the game's first expansion for free.
Ubisoft also mentioned today how Star Wars Outlaws was considered when making the decision to delay Assassin's Creed Shadows, as the company wanted to take the "learnings" from that game into this one. Outlaws suffered from a "softer than expected" launch, and Ubisoft's goal is now to improve it and turn it into a long-term performer.
Interestingly, Assassin's Creed Shadows will no longer be using Ubisoft's traditional Season Pass model - instead, all players will be able to jump in at the same time on February 14th, so there are no early access benefits for this one.
So there you go! It's a shame about the delay, but hopefully it'll make for a better game next year.
