The rumours have been circling for a while about the return of Assassin’s Creed, but we now finally have confirmation directly from Ubisoft.
Assassin’s Creed will enter ‘a new era’ with its latest entry after taking a year off following almost a decade of annual releases.
It will return for the 2017-2018 fiscal year release window, which started on April 1 and runs until March 31, 2018. That means we could be playing the next Assassin’s Creed before the end of the year.
The game is expected to be revealed at E3 2017 during Ubisoft’s pre-showing briefing, which takes place on June 12 at 1pm PT (June 13, 6am AEST).
No details have been revealed about the game, although a report last week pointed to the game being set in Egypt and being called “Assassin’s Creed: Empire“.
The official Assassin’s Creed Twitter profile released a new piece of art with the franchise’s logo, right around the time Ubisoft’s E3 briefing was announced. It’s hard not to connect the dots in that regard.
The UK Assassin’s Creed Twitter account also featured new art with the text “A new era begins”, pointing to the game not being set in a location seen in past entries. That certainly strengthens the prospect of last week’s leak.
Sharpen your blade. The Assassins will soon step out of the shadows… pic.twitter.com/nUrM4A57J0
— Assassins Creed UK (@Assassins_UK) May 16, 2017
Kotaku first caught wind of Empire, and fresh new details from WWG pointed to the game being unveiled at E3 next month. That appears to have now been confirmed.
Assassin’s Creed: Empire will be a “vast open world experience” set in Egypt, and it will follow the story of the original Assassin’s guild.
WWG reported that the game’s progression system will be similar to Skyrim‘s, in that character progression won’t necessarily be tied to natural progression through the story, but rather by placing more of an onus on the player to shape the character as they see fit.
Interestingly, while the game is primarily set in Egypt, players will be able to venture “possibly as far as Greece”, a rumour that ties into a recently-leaked image that shows boats, suggesting naval combat and exploration may play an important role in the experience.
Empire will be the biggest Assassin’s Creed game ever created, according to sources.
The leaked image, by way of Reddit, shows a character on a boat.
Ubisoft looks set for a huge E3, with rumours about a new Far Cry and now Assassin’s Creed setting the publisher up for a huge even.
Empire is reportedly due for a “fall” release, which would put it in Spring, Australia time. Most Assassin’s Creed games launch in the October to November frame, so that’s about when we can expect the game to hit.
