Ubisoft has had some well documented financial struggles over the past year. New information suggests French studio is reportedly banking on a time-honored franchise to carry it to the future - will Assassin's Creed be enough to pull it back it its height, though?
A new report by Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson reveals that Ubisoft is going "all in" on the Assassin’s Creed franchise. According to Henderson, a total of six Assassin’s Creed games are currently being developed by various studios.
@xfire.com Ubisoft is going "all in" with the Assassin's Creed series #AssassinsCreed #assassinscreedseries #ubisoft #gamingnews #fyp #foryou
Ubisoft announced in September 2022 that four games from the stealth action-adventure series are in development: Assasssin’s Creed Mirage, Codename Red, Codename Hexe, and Codename Jade. The company also announced a multiplayer game called Project Invictus a month later.
Reportedly the sixth title is a yet-to-be-announced VR title with the production code name "Project Nexus". The game is expected to be revealed at E3 later in 2023. Recent AAA support for VR platforms has been waning, so this is definitely a surprise.
Sources with knowledge about Ubisoft projects also revealed to Henderson that three more "full-fledged" Assassin’s Creed titles are coming. These projects are currently in the conceptual and prototype stages and are being made by different studios.
Ubisoft Chengdu will be working on the 4-player co-op PVE game Project Raid. Ubisoft Sofia is developing Project Nebula, a game set in India, the Aztec Empire, and the Mediterranean. Project Echoes, a multiplayer game based on Ubisoft’s Scalar cloud technology will be made by Ubisoft Annecy.
The report also revealed that Ubisoft is planning to return to its annual release cycle. Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be coming this year with Project Nexus coming shortly after. Codename Red will be next in line in 2024, while Project Invictus and Codename Hexe coming in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
However, it is worth noting that these are just tentative release dates and may be subject to change. Ubisoft has not been very consistent with its release dates and has missed announced schedules for upcoming games such as the much-delayed naval warfare simulator Skull & Bones.
It may take up to 5-6 years for the games in the conceptual and prototype stages to reach a finished state, barring the extensive delays increasingly typical of the AAA industry. We shouldn’t be expecting any of these leaked projects anytime soon.
However, Codename Red is reportedly already in good shape. The game focuses on stealth - surprisingly enough for this franchise, right? - and will reportedly have two playable characters. No information has leaked about the setting thus far.
Ubisoft has not confirmed the existence of the leaked projects or the release dates for upcoming titles. As of writing, Ubisoft has not announced a firm launch date for Assassin’s Creed Mirage. As with any rumor, take this one with a grain of salt.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S sometime later this year.
