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After a series of leakingUbisoft has officially revealed the next major Assassin’s Creed game. As expected it is called mirage and will shift the time-traveling series to 9th-century Baghdad, where players take on the role of a budding assassin named Basim. (Fans might remember that name from a gig in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla; mirage takes place two decades before that game.)
Notably, Ubisoft says the game will go back to the series’ action-adventure roots, meaning the RPG mechanics of more recent games won’t be present. mirage is expected to launch sometime in 2023. Also note: In an inspired bit of casting, Shohreh Aghdashloo will voice the role of Basim’s murder mentor.
But that’s not all for the series, as Ubisoft also made some other big announcements regarding the future of the franchise.
Let’s start with mobile. Ubisoft develops the first open world version of Assassin’s Creed for smartphones, currently called “Jade”, which takes place in ancient China and allows players to customize their own character. You can also park over the Great Wall which seems nice. “Codename Jade” is listed as coming soon. Elsewhere, Ubisoft also says it’s working on an unnamed mobile title for Netflix’s gaming service, although there are no details on that at the moment. (Netflix and Ubisoft are currently collaborating on a live-action series based on Assassin’s Creed.)
As for the future of the main series, Ubisoft has shared a few details about the games coming after mirage. One of these games, codenamed “Red”, is in development at Ubisoft’s Quebec City studio and will be set in feudal Japan, while the Montreal team is working on another codenamed “Hexe”; there aren’t many details on that yet, but it seems to be about witches in one form or another. While mirage largely eschews the RPG mechanics of games like odysseylooks like both Red and Hexe will keep them.
Elsewhere, the publisher has provided a few more details about his Assassin’s Creed “Infinity” project, which appears to be a sort of online hub that will connect the main games with standalone multiplayer projects. Think of it like the Animus from the games, only you use it to start video games.