When Assassin’s Creed Shadows finally launches on March 20, Mac gamers can begin playing the action-packed role-playing game from Ubisoft at the same time as PCs and consoles. There won’t be the usual wait of months or years. There’s even a version for iPads with M-series processors in development.

The adventure is set in medieval Japan, and players can choose either a samurai or a shinobi (AKA a ninja) for very different gaming experiences.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows for Mac launch date: March 20

For decades, Mac got overlooked as a gaming platform. Much of that can be chalked up to the days when Apple computers couldn’t offer the same graphics performance as PCs. As a result, AAA games often made the jump to Mac slowly, or (more often) not at all. But that won’t be true for Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

“It’s been a longtime dream to bring the game to Mac,” says Ubisoft executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté, who demonstrated the game on Mac during the WWDC24 Keynote. “It’s incredible that I can now open a MacBook Pro and get this level of immersion.

Originally scheduled to premiere in autumn 2024, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will instead launch on Thursday, March 20.

Like a visit to medieval Japan

“Players will step into the roles of a Japanese shinobi, Naoe, and — in a series first — a real-life historical samurai, Yasuke,” Ubisoft said. “Naoe and Yasuke play very differently — Naoe is a shinobi who uses stealth, parkour, and gadgets, whereas Yasuke is combat-oriented and armored.”

“Both protagonists offer vastly different gameplay experiences, and overlapping perspectives on a transformative moment in Japanese history,” said the game developer.

“Shinobi” and “ninja” are often used as synonyms, but shinobi is more historically accurate. It’s a Japanese word that means “to hide,” while ninja is a Chinese word. This is just one of many ways Ubisoft strove to make its game as authentic as possible.

“Ubisoft Quebec went to great lengths consulting source documentation and building a network of expert historians, professors, and cultural consultants to help the team build a world as authentically as possible, from castle construction principles to tea ceremonies to tatami alignment,” said the developer.

Pushing the tech envelope

Ubisoft pushes its technology forward in the upcoming game. “Assassin’s Creed Shadows introduces a number of innovations to the series — including changing seasons and the use of light and shadow, both of which factor into its gameplay,” said Ubisoft. “The game world is dynamic and highly detailed, built with the goal of letting players get lost within it.”

It makes extensive use of Mac technologies: Metal 3 (working in concert with Ubisoft’s next-generation Anvil engine), Apple silicon, and a mix of HDR support and real-time ray tracing on Macs with the M3 and M4 processor, according to Apple.

“Seeing those millions of lines of code work natively on a Mac was a feeling that’s hard to describe,” Ubisoft’s Côté said. “When you look at the game’s performance, the curve Apple is on with successive improvements to the M-series chips year after year, and the way the game looks on an HDR screen, you’re like, ‘Is this real?’”

The development team went all in on technical wizardry. The entire look of the game changes with the seasons. The same is true for the time of day, whether it’s sunsets dying the mountains purple, or the gently moving candles lighting every room. And don’t overlook the fluid-based cloud simulations.

“We developed a lot of features that were barely possible before, and one of them was a full simulation of the wind, not just an animation,” said associate technical director Mathieu Belanger. “We even built a humidity simulation that gathers clouds together.”

Burt Ubisoft Canada wanted the game to be much more than a technological tour de force.

“At its core, it features two characters you’ll like,” creative director Jonathan Dumont said. “And the game is really about following their journey, connecting with them, exploring their unique mysteries, and seeing how they flow together. And I think the way in which they join forces is one of the best moments in the franchise.”

Pre-order Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Mac App Store

The cost is $69.99. Plus, there are in-app purchases on top of that. As noted, the launch date is March 20.