How to Unlock Black Tides, Domains and Horizon in Shadows
Title Update 1.1.11 adds three activities to Assassin's Creed Shadows, and each has its own unlock rule: Black Tides is story-gated, Domains is level-gated, and the Horizon Animus Rift is Rift-gated. Checking the wrong system is why a finished campaign can still show none of them.
Confirm Title Update 1.1.11 is installed before looking for any of the three activities. Ubisoft shipped it on June 16, 2026, with Nintendo Switch 2 on June 19.
Treat the three as separate tracks. Black Tides depends on quest progression, Domains on character level, and Horizon on earlier Animus Rifts. A save can satisfy one and none of the others.
Check each unlock condition in turn
6 steps
Work through the conditions in order and stop at the first one your save fails — that is the activity to fix.
1
Install Title Update 1.1.11
Make sure the game is on the update that introduced Black Tides, Domains, and Horizon. Confirm Title Update 1.1.11 is installed before checking any of the new activities.
2
Finish Naoe and Yasuke's main story
Ubisoft lists completion of both protagonists’ main story as the first Black Tides condition. For Black Tides, verify the main story and both named post-launch quests separately.
3
Complete A Critical Encounter
Finish this post-launch quest because Ubisoft names it as a required Black Tides prerequisite. For Domains, confirm the character has reached level 30; this is a separate gate from Black Tides.
4
Complete A Puzzlement
Finish the second required post-launch quest before expecting Black Tides to become available. For Horizon, complete both previous Animus Rifts before looking for the new Rift.
5
Reach level 30 for Domains
Domains uses its own gate: Ubisoft lists level 30 as the unlock condition. Use the activity-specific checklist instead of treating one unlocked feature as proof that all three should be available.
6
Complete the two earlier Animus Rifts for Horizon
The Horizon Rift requires both previous Animus Rifts to be completed. If a gate still fails, compare the save against the exact official condition before replaying unrelated content.
What each activity gives you
Black Tides is a free story quest featuring the Black Cross Templars. Domains is an endgame system: five simulations across ten challenge levels, with modifiers that push different builds, plus its own currency, shop, progression tree and Domain-exclusive gear and engravings. Horizon is a new Animus Rift.
Domains is repeatable rather than a one-off mission, so the level-30 gate is the entry point rather than the finish line.
One unlock never implies another
Black Tides requires Naoe and Yasuke's main story plus the post-launch quests A Critical Encounter and A Puzzlement. Finishing the campaign alone is not enough.
Domains unlocks at level 30. Horizon requires both previous Animus Rifts completed — having them in the quest log is not the same as completing them. A level-30 character can still be missing Black Tides, and a story-complete character can still be missing Horizon.
Activity
Requirement
Black Tides
Both main stories + A Critical Encounter + A Puzzlement
Domains
Character level 30
Horizon Animus Rift
Both previous Animus Rifts completed
If an activity still will not appear
Run the three-line check: Black Tides — main story plus both named quests; Domains — level 30; Horizon — two prior Rifts completed. That isolates the missing condition without guesswork.
If everything checks out and the activity is still absent, verify the installed title update rather than restarting quest lines.
Trailer, screenshots, and media
The Black Tides teaser shows the Templar antagonists of the new quest, and the story trailer covers the wider setting the Domains simulations draw from.
COSM-GAME 
