I know what you're thinking, the Shadow Projects system in Assassin's Creed Shadows looks an awful lot like a battle pass. It set off all kinds of red flags in my head at first too. While it's not a battle pass in a traditional sense (they're more milestone reward tracks), Shadow Projects do require you to complete daily and weekly busywork tasks, much like you'd see in many recent live service games.
Most confusingly, the Shadow Projects aren't available right away despite you being able to view them in the menus. It'll take you a good few hours before you're ready to even begin to progress chipping away at them.
