Assassin's Creed Shadows just received what Ubisoft billed as its final content update, the Black Tides update, ahead of the upcoming launch of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. The problem? It doesn't actually feel like an ending.
Fans who played through the Black Tides quest have spotted something that's hard to ignore. At the close of the story, Yasuke proposes passing a key artifact to the enemies of the Templars to keep it out of their hands. Naoe responds by spelling it out directly: "You think we should contact the Brotherhood of Assassins," before adding, "maybe one day we'll seek them out."
That's not a conclusion. That's a setup.
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What the Black Tides ending actually sets up
The framing of that final exchange reads less like a farewell to two characters and more like a first chapter closing. The Brotherhood of Assassins reference isn't throwaway dialogue. Naoe and Yasuke aren't members of the Brotherhood at the point Shadows ends, which means there's an entire arc the game never tells. A direct sequel, or even a substantial story DLC, could pick up exactly where Black Tides leaves off.
The speculation isn't baseless either. Associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois reportedly hinted during an Assassin's Creed Shadows anniversary stream that the door isn't necessarily closed on the game's protagonists. The comparison drawn was to Assassin's Creed Mirage, which received surprise story DLC more than two years after its original launch. If Mirage got a second wind, Shadows getting one isn't far-fetched.
The series precedent that makes this plausible
Here's the thing: the Assassin's Creed franchise almost never gives its protagonists a second standalone game. Outside of Ezio's trilogy spanning Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood, and Revelations, the series has consistently moved on to new characters with each mainline entry.
But returning characters in DLC? That's a different story entirely. Kassandra from Assassin's Creed Odyssey resurfaced in Assassin's Creed Valhalla's DLC, years after her own game wrapped. The franchise has form for threading protagonists across entries in supporting roles, which makes a Naoe and Yasuke cameo in a future title entirely possible, even if a full sequel remains unlikely.
The Black Tides update also contains a hint pointing toward Basim, the fan-favourite protagonist from Assassin's Creed Mirage. That particular thread opens up the possibility of a crossover, whether in dedicated DLC or as part of whatever Ubisoft builds next in the franchise.
Ubisoft already admitted the story needed work
What makes this more interesting is the context around why Black Tides exists at all. Ubisoft publicly acknowledged that Shadows' narrative didn't land the way the studio hoped, and the Black Tides update was positioned as the fix, a proper conclusion to give Yasuke and Naoe's arc the weight it was missing. The fact that this "proper conclusion" ends on an open question rather than a definitive full stop suggests either a deliberate narrative hook or a story thread Ubisoft genuinely wants to revisit.
The key here is that Ubisoft has options. A small story DLC dropping a year or two from now, similar to what Mirage received, would be a low-risk way to continue the duo's story without committing to a full sequel. A cameo in a future entry costs even less and still satisfies fans who want to know what happens next.
What comes next for the franchise
For now, the spotlight shifts to Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, which is the next major release on Ubisoft's calendar. Shadows is officially in post-support territory, at least on paper.
Fans invested in Naoe and Yasuke's story have every reason to keep watching. The Mirage precedent shows Ubisoft is willing to return to a game's world long after the credits roll, and Black Tides has left enough threads dangling to justify exactly that. For everything else on the game, the Assassin's Creed Shadows guide collection has you covered while the wait begins.
