Last month, Ubisoft appointed three veterans to spearhead the future of Assassin’s Creed going forward. Now, they’ve provided a bunch of updates regarding what that future holds for the series.
In a blog post, Jean Guesdon, head of content for Assassin’s Creed, broke everything down. Read on for an overview.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Ubisoft Quebec’s Japan-set entry in the series, the team will host a stream on Twitch on March 20 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT to outline a few new game updates. This follows a slew of overhauls to mechanics like parkour and the Claws of Awaji story expansion. Ubisoft says this one-year milestone will also mark the game entering its “final phase of support.”
Codename Hexe
This game was announced years ago but we haven’t seen anything from it beyond rumours that it’s set to focus on the witch trials during the Holy Roman Empire.
In the blog post, Guesdon acknowledged that it hasn’t shared much about this yet, but assured fans that it’s being built “with great care” at Ubisoft Montreal. Guesdon also acknowledged recent news that he’s replaced Ubisoft veteran Clint Hocking (Splinter Cell, Far Cry and Watch Dogs) as creative director on the game. It’s still unclear why Hocking left, especially as this marks his second time departing the company.
Finally, Guesdon said it will remain “quiet a little longer” about Hexe as development continues, but he teased that it will be a “unique, darker, narrative-driven” instalment in the series “set during a pivotal moment in history.”
Codename Invictus
This is a PvP multiplayer game led by a team of For Honor veterans at Ubisoft Montreal. Just like with Hexe, Guesdon didn’t reveal anything new about the game itself. That said, he acknowledged that “there’s a lot of curiosity around the project” since it’s “a new approach to multiplayer in the franchise,” but he notes that “it isn’t quite what the rumors have suggested.” He added that the team is “exploring ways ways to bring the community in earlier so we can shape the experience together.”
It should be noted that Ubisoft has experimented with multiplayer in Assassin’s Creed games before. Notably, Brotherhood, Revelations and Black Flag had an elimination-style mode in which players had to blend into the environment to sneakily take each other out, while 2014’s Unity featured co-op support. However, Unity was the last time the series featured any multiplayer content, so it will be interesting to see how Invictus shapes up.
Black Flag Resynced
As is common with Ubisoft, a remake of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag has long been rumoured and even leaked several times, including from the game’s very own star, Matt Ryan (Edward Kenway). The pirate adventure game had been tipped to drop in early 2026, but Ubisoft reportedly delayed it.
Now, Ubisoft has finally acknowledged the elephant in the room by sharing key art of Resynced. Guesdon cryptically added that fans should “keep your spyglass on the horizon” for more.
Miscellaneous
Other smaller updates include:
- “Several other projects” are in the works, including the mobile game Jade
- Ubisoft is exploring how to bring co-op back to the series
- News on Netflix’s live-action Assassin’s Creed series is coming “very soon”
- Assassin’s Creed Unity is getting a free 60fps patch on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 5
- Multiple games, including Unity, will be free to play on Xbox from April 2 to 6
Given that companies can often go years without even acknowledging what they’re working on, even after initial announcements, it’s refreshing to see Ubisoft provide more clarity on some of its upcoming projects.
This latest update also comes at a pivotal time for the company, which has been struggling in recent years amid a larger turbulent period in the gaming industry. This has led the French gaming giant to cancel several projects, including axing XDefiant and a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, lay offs hundreds worldwide (including the recent shuttering of its Halifax office and cuts at its Toronto studio), and restructure into a bunch of different divisions. That new company structure includes its Vantage Studios subsidiary with Tencent that oversees Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six.
It should also be mentioned that the previous head of the Assassin’s Creed series, Marc-Alexis Côté, is suing Ubisoft for $1.3 million over alleged “disguised dismissal.” Côté had been with Ubisoft for over 20 years and began his tenure as Assassin’s Creed boss in 2022, which including guiding Shadows to its release last year.
Image credit: Ubisoft
Source: Ubisoft
