Ubisoft has introduced a temporary ‘Assassin’s Christmas’ event in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which is a chance for players to receive any special Christmas rewards that they did not get during the event. Between December 25 and January 8, players can unlock three special chests, and each chest will have a missed item and a huge amount of resources in it. Each player can only open one chest.
So, Assassin’s Christmas, huh? That was the response from the official Assassin’s Creed account this week, surprising everyone with a holiday update for their newest game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and the players’ reactions were, to say the least, a mix of holiday cheer and pure-than-ever salt. The deal is very simple: between December 25th and January 8th, you can log into your account and open three new chests. These are not ordinary loot boxes, of course, as they are made specifically for the players who have deprived themselves of the unique rewards during the last festive event. In fact, it is a second chance for you as you get any missed unique rewards, you get a lot of resources, and you can only open each chest once.
This is a total blessing from heaven for one specific group of players. One player, Brian Groven, was very excited and said: ‘Thank you so much! I was really upset that I missed Naoe’s Santa hat and now I have it!’ This emotion is shared by a large part of the community. People like ‘takeshikitano3’ commented, ‘I missed just one and it was driving me crazy, thanks!’ Another gamer ‘Rookie Gamer 3.0’ simply stated, ‘Until January 8, thank you.’ It is a simple and non-stressful way for people to catch up during the holidays. ‘shzhv13’ said: ‘Seasonal rewards are a good way to draw back the players without stress. Three new chests and that’s it, simple and fair. Respect the players’ time.’ Totally agreed with that, right? No FOMO, just a little holiday bonus.
On the flip side, you wouldn’t have imagined the other side of replies. It’s somewhat like having to endure a family dinner where one of the attendees inadvertently brings up politics. It seems like the announcement has set off a series of… let’s say ‘franchise fatigue’. One player, ‘exodia0715’, unleashed a tirade: ‘What on earth has happened to this franchise? Where are the assassins, the historical fanfiction, the painstaking attention to even the most boring time period? Now we are battling gods and fighting AOT Titans.’ Supporting this view, ‘runethejudes’ simply wanted to know, ‘what the hell is this series?’. The user ‘BilboBobbins69’ was blunt: ‘What’s this…more trash for a trash game?’ Ouch! The live-service nature of these events has certainly alienated some long-time fans. ‘yaboy_kobie’ stated candidly, ‘Treating the game like a live service is just a waste of time and resources.’
The next issue is the whole… aesthetic debate. Some gamers just can’t cope with the Christmas Samurai theme. ‘DERPHERPDERPYO’ expressed his dissatisfaction, ‘No Naoe Christmas suit? Even uglier is Yasuke 🤮 🤮.’ ‘BebopJosh’ joked by making a very deep-cut reference, ‘Sorry, you can’t have Assassin’s Christmas without Christmas Evie, which falls on a Friday.’ Now that’s a deep cut from Syndicate for sure! A few replies even sparked discussions about the series’ identity, with ‘WeirdMons’ defending the critics from being wrong by asserting, ‘Assassin’s Creed has always been about Alien Gods.’ and ‘You mean the one with aliens and godlike superpowers?’ So yes, it is not only about the chests, it is about what Assassin’s Creed is supposed to be like in 2024.
And naturally, there’s the technical side of things. ‘blazed_alejo’ was looking for a fix and inquired, ‘How about fixing the game first? I lost my new isu items from the recent quest that was added.’ To this, another user, ‘wattoragebait,’ nonchalantly responded, ‘Skill issue.’ Classic. Simultaneously, ‘ACUnlimited378’ was raving about a certain bow that was part of the event but also reported a glitch, ‘I love that bow, but sometimes the reward doesn’t show up when the bright balls come, and I lose it.’
Bizarrely, some gamers are already done with this event. A user ‘lytblu26’ shared a screenshot and said, ‘Opened all the chests, never missed a day.’ This event is also available on PlayStation and Xbox.
