Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ 1.0.6 Update Should Just Be a Taste of the Feast to Come

While attention may be turning away from Assassin’s Creed Shadows and towards other upcoming franchise projects like AC Hexe, the post-launch plans for the Japan-set title are still far from over. As expected, Shadows has already received some major updates that add polish to the game alongside a range of new features, with core mechanics even being overhauled by Ubisoft since the game’s March release.

The 1.0.6 update for Assassin’s Creed Shadows is slated to launch on June 24 and is based around community-led feedback. A free story pack was the staple offering of Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ 1.0.4 update, serving some great worldbuilding purposes for the wider setting of Shadows. This upcoming 1.0.6 update is confirmed to feature story content of its own, and it only seems right that this content sets up the release of the game’s major DLC, Claws of Awaji.

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Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ 1.0.6 Update Should Pass the Torch to Claws of Awaji

The 1.0.4 update for Assassin’s Creed Shadows brought various improvements to things like parkour mechanics, photo mode, and general stability. This gave the update’s free story pack, The Works of Luis Frois, an even better reception. This content pack came in the form of a small story arc based around Luis Frois, a Portuguese missionary who lived in Feudal Japan in the late 1500s.

Crucially, this first post-launch story pack leaned into the historical world of AC Shadow‘s Japanese setting by anchoring the setting’s Portuguese presence to a real-world figure. It only seems right that the 1.0.6 update for Shadows ensures that its story pack offers a similar benefit in terms of bolstering the game at large. Shadows‘ first major story expansion, Claws of Awaji, is set for a late 2025 release window, and 1.0.6’s story content should lay the seeds for this ambitious experience.

Unlike The Works of Luis Frois, June’s AC Shadows story update is confirmed to feature a brand-new ally that players can use in combat. This could be used brilliantly to lead into Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ Claws of Awaji expansion, with this new ally potentially being someone who frequently appears in the DLC itself. This ally could even use some of the fresh weaponry and equipment that Claws of Awaji will offer to players, giving fans an exciting glimpse at things to come.

Alongside new gear and armor sets, the Claws of Awaji DLC is confirmed to feature the Bo Staff weapon type, offering a whole new world of combat capabilities.

The Reported Ambition of Claws of Awaji Deserves Some Prior Set-Up

The Claws of Awaji DLC is also set to introduce an expansive new map alongside unique enemy factions, giving this upcoming story pack some more potential avenues to link itself to the major expansion. Dialogue and unique events could give insight into the unrest at Awaji Island, for example, while the expansion’s new enemy types could make brief appearances in some of 1.0.6’s upcoming missions. Of course, there is a chance that June’s update could be completely unrelated to Claws of Awaji.

It remains that this large-scale expansion is one of the most talked-about aspects of Shadows‘ post-launch plans, and some freely available Awaji-related content in 1.0.6 could create the perfect storm for its eventual release. The story content of 1.0.6 will likely be comparable in size to the fresh experiences that fans received with 1.0.4, but this still leaves plenty of room for Ubisoft to make extensive references to Claws of Awaji to properly signify just how game-changing Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ DLC may be.