When it comes to an open world in any video game, we all want it to be as big as possible, but most importantly, for it to be meaningful. Thankfully, Assassin’s Creed Shadows delivers when it comes to having a good map size alongside engaging activities that do not clutter the landscape. Here, we’ve made a quick guide to show you just how big this representation of Feudal Japan is, as well as how long it will take you to traverse the whole map.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Map Size
For this guide, we measured the size of the Assassin’s Creed Shadows map by creating a rough rectangle, which included almost all playable space. This is possible thanks to the game’s handy waypoint system, which allows us to gauge distance from the farthest possible locations of this rectangle. From north to south, this measures approximately 13,000 meters, while east to west is around 11,000 meters. That gives us a total squared area of 143,000,000 meters2 or 143 kilometers2
If you’re used to the imperial system, that makes for 55 miles2 — roughly a quarter of the size of Chicago’s total land area.
How Big AC Shadows’ Map Is Compared to Other Games
So how does the size of AC Shadows stack up to other popular games? Well, it’s massive– though not quite as big as Odyssey, another popular game in the series that had an enormous map. Of course, much of that was water, whereas Shadows is mostly all land. It’s quite dense, too, packed with content and full of undulated terrain and thick vegetation. Overall, there’s much more to explore. For a quick reference, here’s how AC Shadows compares to some other big open worlds:
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – 90 mile²
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows – 55 mile²
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 28.9 mile²
- The Witcher 3 (Including Toussaint) – 20.8 mile²
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance 6.1 mile²
- Marvel’s Spider-Man – 4.62 mile²
How Long Does It Take to Cross the Whole Map?
As you can see in the above video, it took us almost 30 minutes to travel from one of the map’s edges to another. We measured this by using the game’s Pathfinder option, which took us through the optimal path.
Overall, the map size of Assassin’s Creed Shadows is massive, yet it has an advantage over previous modern AC titles. For starters, it doesn’t feel cluttered. The open-world formula has vastly improved, making it one of the most engaging maps to explore. Second, its seasons system is a game-changer, and makes the map feel fresh at every turn. Beyond the visual changes, there are other gameplay details that arrive with each season, so it is refreshing to see an open-world map that does not get old even after playing for dozens of hours.
