Ubisoft publicly revealed that it was delaying Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. That announcement came with another delay, but the name of that other title was a mystery. Some theorized that it was the unannounced Assassin’s Creed game that got pushed, which is exactly what a new report is alleging.
According to Bloomberg, Assassin’s Creed Rift, the codename for the next entry, has been pushed from February and is now planned to launch sometime between May and June, elaborating that it was indeed the “smaller unannounced premium game” from the earnings report. It is being delayed because the project is “running far behind schedule,” according to one of the outlet’s sources. Ubisoft Bordeaux, which previously developed Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s Irish expansion Wrath of the Druids, is said to be leading the game and has asked for more time.
Bloomberg (and Eurogamer) previously reported of Rift‘s existence, saying it was a smaller, stealthier entry that will star Valhalla‘s Basim (the one on the left in the above picture) and take place in Baghdad. It was originally supposed to be DLC for Valhalla, but was reportedly fleshed out to fill out Ubisoft’s barren release schedule. Not much else is known, but, as the Bloomberg report states, it will be unveiled during the franchise’s 15th anniversary stream in September.
Assassin’s Creed‘s “future” will be revealed during that stream, which seems to have a few big things on the horizon. Assassin’s Creed Infinity, which Ubisoft did announce just after a Bloomberg report about it went live, is the live service entry being developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Quebec, the teams that led Valhalla and Odyssey, respectively. Ubisoft was rather vague about it, but the Bloomberg report claimed it is being modeled after Fortnite and will be a “massive online platform that evolves over time” that’s still “at least three years away.”
Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb also said that he heard Ubisoft is working on a Japanese setting for Assassin’s Creed. Kotaku then reported this was part of the codenamed Assassin’s Creed Red, which Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier later cleared up was just part of Assassin’s Creed Infinity.
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There’s also some evidence that the first Assassin’s Creed is being remastered in some way. Some noticed that the footage for the first game played during the anniversary stream looked better, which side-by-side comparisons seem to back up. A press kit for the game also had an updated version of the game’s logo, as it now had “A Ubisoft Original” underneath the logo, something Ubisoft puts on new games. The anniversary countdown on the site even ends in September with the first title, which will likely be around the aforementioned stream.
And while the original Assassin’s Creed is backwards compatible on Xbox, it is not playable on modern PlayStation consoles and even released before trophies were mandatory, making it a prime target to get rereleased or remastered. Ubisoft already remastered the three Ezio games and Assassin’s Creed III, leaving this as the sole mainline title that hasn’t been touched up for (or available on) modern systems.
