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Xbox X|SWe've documented 40 accessibility features for Assassin's Creed Shadows, including Fully Voiced (Or No Speech), Low Pressure, Control Assists, Custom Difficulty and No Button Combos. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Visual but it also has features in Navigation, Getting Started, Reading, Difficulty and Audio to reduce unintended barriers.
This report is created with input from accessibility experts and the player community to help people find games that have the accessibility features they require. Once you have found potential games on the database, there are excellent specialist accessibility sites that offer in-depth reviews to guide your purchasing decisions.
Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Assassin's Creed Shadows accessibility 3 weeks ago. It was re-examined by Thom Robertson and updated 2 weeks ago.
Accessibility Notes
You can adjust the stealth and combat difficulties individually. Guided mode makes exploration more straightforward by adding objective markers and trails to follow.
Text is high in contrast and can be adjusted in size. Even on the largest size, however, text is less than 1/20th of screen height. You can add a description of a speaker's emotions to the (captioned) subtitles, and can view a log of the past lines of dialogue in a given conversation, although not that of dialogue from previous ones. You can turn on Canon Mode, which makes dialogue choices for you to get the "canon" ending to the game.
The HUD can be extensively customised, with the ability to individually enable or disable virtually every component. Menus, as well as the HUD, can be narrated, and a high-contrast mode changes the colours of key elements of the game to be more clearly visible. Audio description is available for the cutscenes.
Game Details
Release Date: 20/03/2025
Out Now: PC, PS5 and Xbox X|S
Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Adventure, Fighting, Traversal (Action, Collecting, Narrative, Role-Play and Stealth)
Accessibility: 40 features
Components: 3D Third-Person, Day and Night, Open World and Weather
Developer: King Cookie Press (@KingCookiePress)
Costs: Purchase cost, In-Game Purchases and In-Game Pass
Controls
We've documented 10 accessibility features for Controls in Assassin's Creed Shadows which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.
Gamepad
Can play with the following:
Multiple Buttons & Two Sticks: Can play with multiple buttons and two sticks.
Mouse And Keyboard
Can play with the following:
Mouse and Keys: Can play with mouse and multiple keys.
Remap Controls
Can customise the controls for the game as follows:
Remap Buttons: Can re-map all buttons so that you can use alternatives that better suit your play.
Remap Mouse and Keyboard: Can remap mouse and keyboard key bindings, on systems that support these controls.
Remap Extra Mouse Buttons: Can remap additional buttons on mice that provide more than the two standard buttons, on systems that support these controls.
Invert X/Y Axis: Can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming. This enables you to match your instinctive orientation when looking.
Button Combinations
Specific button operation required to play
Holding Down Buttons Optional: Holding down buttons for prolonged periods (a second or more) is not required or can be switched to toggling the action on and off. This is in addition to the movement stick/button which is not considered a hold for this purpose.
No Simultaneous Buttons: Only one button or key required at a time, in addition to direction stick(s).
Controller Vibration
Vibration Optional: Controller vibration not used in the game or you can disable it.
Sensitivity
You can adjust
Adjust Mouse/Stick/Touch Sensitivity, Deadzones and Thresholds: Adjust how sensitive touch/mouse/stick controls are and the related deadzones and thresholds.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls
If you want to play Assassin's Creed Shadows, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- Far Cry 6 (15 Controls Features)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (14 Controls Features)
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla (11 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Difficulty in Assassin's Creed Shadows which deal with how you can adjust the challenge of play, and whether this is locked once chosen or can be adjusted as you play.
Difficulty Options
Customise Difficulty: Customise different aspects of the game to create a challenge of an appropriate level. Adjusting elements individually enables you to tailor gameplay to suit your needs and style of play.
Adjust After Setting
Adjustable Anytime: You can adjust the difficulty while playing, without having to restart the level you are on. This enables you to quickly adjust the game to suit your needs and see the difference immediately.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Difficulty
If you want to play Assassin's Creed Shadows, but it doesn't offer the Difficulty accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Difficulty accessibility:
- Star Wars Outlaws (3 Difficulty Features)
- Horizon Forbidden West (3 Difficulty Features)
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla (3 Difficulty Features)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (3 Difficulty Features)
Getting Started
We've documented 6 accessibility features for Getting Started in Assassin's Creed Shadows which deal with what support is offered to get started with the game. This includes customising the experience when you first open the game via any onboarding processes it provides as well as tutorials and other assistance when you first start playing.
Onboarding Before Play
Before you are presented with the home screen, onboarding settings aim to aid you accessing the menus you need to adjust the game to your requirements. They can also provide an easier way of turning on important adjustments without digging through menus.
Onboarding: The first time you open the game, you are asked to confirm options for control, navigation and accessibility settings. Games can differ in what they present at this stage, but will count for this, provided they include a streamlined onboarding process.
Assistance Getting Starting
These features aid your play of the game in terms of cognitive load on learning controls, dealing with pressure and coping with the environment and challenges.
Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials and instructions on how to play. Information is provided in a timely manner, with appropriate level of detail.
Assistance With Controls: The game can automatically assist with aiming, steering, reloading, jumping, running etc. This reduces the challenge of certain aspects of play to remove barriers and make control of characters more accessible.
Low Pressure: Game tasks aren't time-limited or there's a low-pressure mode. This avoids the pressure of being put on the clock for overarching missions, or failing tasks because you didn't reach a destination in time.
Assistance For Progressing
These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of maintaining your progression.
Assisted Recall for Narrative and Dialogue: The game enables you to review the history of conversations or provides highlights of the information you gather in a form you can review.
Save Progress Anytime: The game automatically saves progress or you can save any time. This doesn’t mean you never lose progress, but it does mean you can stop whenever you want (without having to get to a save point) without losing progress.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started
If you want to play Assassin's Creed Shadows, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla (8 Getting Started Features)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (8 Getting Started Features)
Reading
We've documented 5 accessibility features for Reading in Assassin's Creed Shadows which deal with how much reading or listening comprehension is required, how well the game provides visual and audible access to the text and whether subtitles and captions are a good fit for purpose.
Reading Level
How much reading is required to play the game's main path or story and how complex the language is. The presence of voiced characters doesn't reduce this requirement, as it's recorded as a separate datapoint.
Simple Minimal Reading: Minimal reading is required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a primary/elementary student (9-year-old) could understand.
Text Visibility
High Contrast Text: Text colour contrasts to the background or can be adjusted to be. The text in menus, instructions and other information is presented in high contrast with a solid background.
Subtitles
All Speech Subtitled (Or No Speech In Game): All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to hear spoken dialogue or narrative to play the game.
Captions
Speaker Indicator and their Tone: Textual captions indicate who is speaking and their tone (or there is only ever one person speaking). This can also be indicated visually in the game with character icons or character expressions with text in speech bubbles next to the person speaking.
Voice Acted
All Dialogue is Voice Acted (Or No Speech In Game): All of the game dialogue and narrative can be voiced, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to read the dialogue and narrative text to play the game.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading
If you want to play Assassin's Creed Shadows, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
- Ghostwire: Tokyo (7 Reading Features)
- Assassin's Creed Origins (7 Reading Features)
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla (7 Reading Features)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (6 Reading Features)
Navigation
We've documented 8 accessibility features for Navigation in Assassin's Creed Shadows which deal with how the game provides guidance and assistance to navigate its worlds. These are only for games that have traversal and exploration in 2D and 3D spaces.
Clarity
Large Clear Navigation: The in-game navigation and maps are clear to read. They offer large text and offer markers that are large and of high contrast. Where text or information is small, there are settings to zoom-in and increase visibility.
Clear Mission Objectives: The game provides clear, structured missions with directional guidance and advice on which can be attempted next. This also indicates (ideally on maps where they are provided) which missions can't be attempted because you do not have the appropriate items yet.
Visual Directional Cues: Additional in-game visual cues that signpost where to go next and how close you are to arriving. This can be with camera movement to focus on your destination or important items. It can use light, breadcrumb trails, in-world pointers to identify your mission's target location.
Head-Up Display
Adjust Head-Up Display: Resize and adjust the content of the head-up display. This enables it to be made more visible. It can also enable the removal of too much information that can be distracting or confusing.
Game Map: View a map of the game world during play, with the landscape, points of interest and missions highlighted throughout the entire game. This enables the orientation of the player and the world, confirming a direction of movement and the location of destinations or points of exploration.
Head-Up Display Narrated: Key information displayed via text or icons is narrated. This enables the player to know their health, weapons, ammunition and other items without reading the head-up display.
Menu Navigation
Digital Menu Navigation: Menu choices with Gamepad can be made without using an analogue stick to guide a cursor to a selection. For example, using D-Pad, buttons or the Stick to change menu selection in a single action.
Menu Narrated: All of the game menus can be narrated for easier navigation. The game menus can therefore be navigated without reading text.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation
If you want to play Assassin's Creed Shadows, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Navigation accessibility:
- Far Cry 6 (9 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 9 accessibility features for Visual in Assassin's Creed Shadows which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.
Contrast
High Contrast: There is high contrast between elements that need to be distinguished from each other, such as characters, interactive objects and game environment, either by default or a high contrast mode. This is different to a slider that increases contrast or brightness between light and dark.
Visual Distractions
No Screen Shake: No screen shake effect or it is included but it can be disabled. This includes the absence of screen shake for dramatic effect as well as to indicate hits on a target.
Audio Cues for Visual Events
Audio Cues for Visual Events: Audio is provided to indicate visual events. Game events or progress highlighted by visual icons, effects or animations are also accompanied by audio to signify that progress. This is useful for blind players.
Narration for Visual Elements
This is the audible narration of in-game text. Sometimes talk about as Text To Speech, although it may include the narration of no-textual elements. This is different to Text To Voice, which provides player-player textual communication audibly.
Menu Narrated: All of the game menus can be narrated for easier navigation. The game menus can therefore be navigated without reading text.
Head-Up Display Narrated: Key information displayed via text or icons is narrated. This enables the player to know their health, weapons, ammunition and other items without reading the head-up display.
Motion Sickness Friendly
Motion Sickness Friendly: Doesn't have 3D movement elements that may trigger motion sickness, like motion blur, depth of field and field-of-vision. Or includes the ability to disable motion blur, depth of field and field-of-vision effects.
Colour Options
Colour Adjustments: Adjust colours of characters or game elements for greater visibility. Includes the ability to select which type of colour blind mode you require.
Violence
Turn Off Blood: Reduce or disable graphic content of blood and gore.
Turn Off Dismemberment: Disable graphic depiction of dismembered bodies and corpses.
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Assassin's Creed Shadows which deal with how you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see.
Adjustable Audio
Balance Audio Levels: Set music and game sound effects separately. This enables you to select your preference as well as ensure critical game sounds aren't obscured by other audio.
Play Without Hearing
Play Without Hearing: No audio cues are necessary to play the game well.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Audio
If you want to play Assassin's Creed Shadows, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:
- Ghostwire: Tokyo (4 Audio Features)
- Far Cry 6 (4 Audio Features)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (4 Audio Features)
- Assassin's Creed Identity (3 Audio Features)
System Accessibility Settings
In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:
PC
Windows has extensive accessibility features. Some, like colour correction, work with games. Lots of accessibility software can be used with PC games, from voice recognition to input device emulators.
PlayStation 5
PlayStation 5 has a range of system-wide accessibility settings.
Xbox Series X|S
Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Ben Kendall and Thom Robertson
