Factions are nothing new in Assassin's Creed. Before the Assassin Brotherhood was established in 1090, there was the Babylonian Brotherhood, the Shields of Mars, and most importantly, the Hidden Ones (among others). Before the Templars became public in 1129, there was the Cult of Kosmos and the Order of the Ancients. By its timelines, Assassin's Creed Shadows players should be contending with Assassins and Templars, and maybe they are. The main group of enemies shown for Assassin's Creed Shadows so far are the Shinbakufu, which at first blush may seem like a Templar off-shoot, but Ubisoft recently cast doubt on that.