Ubisoft made waves when it announced that no new Assassin’s Creed game would arrive in 2016, effectively putting one of its biggest series on the backburner in the hopes of stopping fans from getting burnt out and ensuring that quality remained relatively high. Since then, the publisher has kept mum about what might be on the way for the future of the Assassin–Templar war, but a handful of high profile leaks have outed quite a few key details about the next Assassin’s Creed, some of which have been circuitously confirmed by Ubisoft itself. Read on to find out everything we know about the next Assassin’s Creed game.
What we know we know
Is a new Assassin’s Creed game on the way? Yes. Though Ubisoft hasn’t shared very many details on future Assassin’s Creed releases, it has confirmed repeatedly that the franchise is dormant, not dead.
How will the next Assassin’s Creed be different? Ubisoft has spoken publicly about its desire to make games that are less linear and more open-ended in their storytelling, citing the next Assassin’s Creed as the first major attempt at delivering on this new approach. That likely means more freedom for players and less emphasis on a guided story experience. We’ve seen shades of this approach in previous entries in the series, with Black Flag in particular placing a great deal of emphasis on an open world that felt systemic and gameplay driven. That being said, even Black Flag had a hefty dose of linear story, so it remains to be seen how Ubisoft will take the concept even further.
Additionally, Ubisoft has said that Assassin’s Creed might borrow some tech and design ideas from one of the publisher’s biggest 2017 games, The Division, though it’s offered few specifics.
When will the next Assassin’s Creed be out? When it’s done. Many of Ubisoft’s statements have pointed to a fall 2017 release, including a stated desire to have other big open-world titles like Watch Dogs help fill in the gap for Assassin’s Creed’s off-years. That being said, the publisher has shied away from promising any specific timetable, even declining to confirm a 2017 release.
What we think we know
Where is the next Assassin’s Creed game set? Ubisoft has yet to announce anything official about the next Assassin’s Creed, but a few major leaks have all but confirmed that the title will be set in Egypt. The earliest indication was a statement on image board 4chan that Ubisoft wanted a setting as far back as possible in history to give them more freedom to tell a meaty story. According to the leaker, the limited documentation about Egypt meant the team wouldn’t be so limited by historical certainty and would therefore have more leeway to get creative.
These statements were given enormous credence by later leaks of gameplay and menu images that all but confirmed the Egyptian setting. If that weren’t enough, Watch Dogs 2 saw Ubisoft all but confirm the setting as authentic. Read on to the next question for more info on that.
What is the next Assassin’s Creed game called? One of the earlier leaks, reported by Kotaku, revealed that the code name for the next game would be code-named Empire, but that’s likely not the final title. (A similar report from Kotaku that outed Assassin’s Creed Syndicate shared its code-name, Victory, which obviously didn’t end up being the final title.)
Instead, the most likely name is Assassin’s Creed Osiris. The phrase is mentioned alongside Unity and Syndicate in a Watch Dogs 2 mission that makes light of Ubisoft’s past leaks, and Osiris is a key figure in Egyptian mythology. Fans of the Assassin’s Creed series know it’s already co-opted the gods of historical civilizations, so there’s good reason to believe Osiris is indeed the next subtitle.
What will gameplay be like in the next Assassin’s Creed? According to the 4chan leaker, gameplay will focus much more on the open-world, with a sparse desert environment to explore and few structures to climb outside of the main towns. The leaker compared the overall feel to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, albeit with more emphasis on land-based travel. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was mentioned as a touchstone for the biggest gameplay changes, with “player progression” and a “freeform combat system” noted as some of the biggest upgrades. The open-world will allegedly also be completely seamless this time around, with no load times for entering and exiting cities.
Will the next Assassin’s Creed have horses? Per the 4chan leak, horses are back and will be a crucial aspect of getting around the world.
Will the next Assassin’s Creed have ships? The leak specifically references boats, which would imply something smaller in scope that Black Flag‘s full sailing ships. That makes sense, given the Egyptian setting, since most of the water you traverse will likely be rivers, not an ocean.
How big is the next Assassin’s Creed’s map? The 4chan leaker claimed the map would be about three times the size of Black Flag‘s which would be a huge area to explore, especially considering the fact that Black Flag filled most of that space with water.
Will the next Assassin’s Creed game be out in 2017? Almost certainly, though we’ll have to keep this question in the “What We Think We Know” section until Ubisoft makes an official announcement. Despite the company’s insistence that the game will only release when it’s ready, it’s hard to imagine such a big title being absent two years in a row.
Who’s the main character of the next Assassin’s Creed game? While we don’t have a name yet, we have seen shots of a dark-skinned man who appears to be the game’s main character. According to the 4chan leak, this new lead character is a slave (or a former slave) who’s less talkative than many past leads.
What platforms will Assassin’s Creed launch on? Common sense says the next Assassin’s Creed will launch on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, at the bare minimum. This is corroborated by the 4chan leak, which confirms those platforms and says a release for the Nintendo Switch is still up in the air.
What team is developing the next Assassin’s Creed The 4chan leak claims that the next Assassin’s Creed is being developed by the same Ubisoft Montreal team that handled Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. If you liked that game, that’s great news.
Will the next Assassin’s Creed game tie into the movie? The director of the Assassin’s Creed movie, Justin Kurzel, and its star, Michael Fassbender, have both mentioned that Ubisoft is interested in borrowing at least one element from the film to include in future games. That’s the new, more dynamic Animus, which resembles a large robot arm and allows the present-day character, Callum Lynch, to physically act out things he’s doing in the past as his ancestor. We can see why Ubisoft might make the change, given that the Animus models of the games, which resemble high-tech beds, are a lot more boring to look at.
What we still want to know
Will Assassin’s Creed return to annual releases? Ubisoft has said it isn’t certain, but with multiple teams working on the games, it’s reasonable to assume that a big success will motivate the publisher to return its cash cow to a one-a-year release schedule. Still, we could see it taking the opposite approach, too, especially given the sales dip of another prominent annualized action series, Call of Duty.
What will the present-day section of the next Assassin’s Creed look like? No portion of the Assassin’s Creed games have varied more than the present-day sections, which have gone from lengthy, heavy-handed narratives that take up quite a bit of gameplay focus to shorter sections that are almost entirely optional. Given that the next Assassin’s Creed is being considered a major revamp that will set the stage for the future, we’re excited to see how this key area of the game develops next.
What will the story of the next Assassin’s Creed be? With so few official details on the next Assassin’s Creed, the story remains one of the biggest mysteries. While Egypt offers plenty of historical figures to rope in, it’s also a civilization with a very long history. Curiously, it also seems to predate the historically accepted founding of the Assassin Order. Will it be an origin story of sorts for the Creed?
Will the next Assassin’s Creed come to the Nintendo Switch? Ubisoft was one of the few third-party publishers to invest heavily in the Wii U, but it remains to be seen whether it will give Nintendo’s next console any serious support. An Assassin’s Creed game could be a huge boon for the console–handheld hybrid system.
Will the next Assassin’s Creed have multiplayer? This one is a bit confusing at the moment. Ubisoft has said that it sees multiplayer games as its future, which would seem to indicate that Assassin’s Creed’s beloved multiplayer might be making a long-awaited comeback. On the other hand, the 4chan leaker claimed that online play was out, but it’s unclear whether they just meant co-op. We hope the series’ innovative multiplayer makes a return in some form at some point.