Assassin's Creed Shadows unlock times for each region
Here's when Ubisoft's next big game steps out of the shadows.

Assassin's Creed Shadows drops out of the underbrush soon, and by our own Morgan Park's account in his review, it's a solid stealth-action romp. On March 20 (late March 19 in some regions), Assassin's Creed Shadows will be unlocked for players worldwide—meaning lots of tall things to jump off and gubbins to collect.
Whether Shadows will live up to the absolutely massive pressure that's been heaped upon it by a turbulent industry (and, unfortunately, the kind of person who thinks it's acceptable to harass developers over the videogames they make) is another thing entirely. Still, the way Ubisoft tells it, pre-orders have been doing well so far.
Unlike the business of assassination (and the turbulence of industry trends) we actually happen to know exactly when Assassin's Creed Shadows will strike your digital library and unlock for play. Here's the full dossier for your convenience.
When is Assassin's Creed Shadows' unlock time?
Assassin's Creed Shadows launches at 9 pm PDT March 19 on PC, giving pre-loaded gamers in LA and California time to hop in for a few hours (and potentially compromise their Thursday workday) with a late-night samurai sesh. Most other regions will receive it March 20. If you're using Ubiconnect, you might unlock it earlier based on your region. Here's the full list of PC unlock times:
- Los Angeles: 9 pm PDT on Wednesday, March 19
- Mexico: 10 pm PDT on Wednesday, March 19
- Montreal and New York: 12 am EDT on Thursday, March 20
- Sao Paulo: 1 am BRT on Thursday, March 20
- London: Ubiconnect: 10 pm GMT on Wednesday, March 19 / Steam: 4 am GMT on Thursday, March 20.
- Paris and Warsaw: Ubiconnect: 11 pm CET on Wednesday, March 19 / Steam: 5 am CET on Thursday, March 20.
- Abu Dhabi: Ubiconnect: 2 am GST on Thursday, March 20 / Steam: 8 am GST.
- Johannesburg: Ubiconnect: 6 am SAST on Thursday, March 20 / Steam: 6 am SAST.
- Shanghai: Ubiconnect: 8 pm CST on Wednesday, March 19 / Steam: 12 am CST on Thursday, March 20.
- Tokyo and Seoul: Ubiconnect: 9 pm JST/KST on Wednesday, March 19 / Steam: 1 pm JST/KST on Thursday, March 20.
- Sydney: Ubiconnect: 11 pm AEDT on Wednesday, March 19 / Steam: 3pm AEDT on Thursday, March 20.
Does Assassin's Creed Shadows have preloading?
Yes—at the time of writing, preloading for Assassin's Creed Shadows has been available for some time, so you're free to go ahead and download it. If you're wondering whether Ubisoft's latest, glossiest RPG will run well on your rig, we've got a full performance breakdown already up on our lovely website. Aren't we nice?
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Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.
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Assassin's Creed Shadows review

Don't expect to unlock Yasuke for a while in Assassin's Creed Shadows