UPDATE: Ubisoft responded to our request for comment with the following statement, which at least confirms that the leaked material is the real deal:
It is always unfortunate when internal assets, not intended for public consumption, are leaked. And, while we certainly welcome anticipation for all of our upcoming titles, we’re disappointed for our fans, and our development team, that this conceptual asset is now public. The team in our Quebec studio has been hard at work on the particular game in question for the past few years, and we’re excited to officially unveil what the studio has been working on at a later date. In the meantime, our number one priority is enhancing the experience of Assassin’s Creed Unity for players.
ORIGINAL POST: Ubisoft’s next Assassin’s Creed game, which appears to be either subtitled or codenamed “Victory,” is said to be coming in fall 2015, according to a report from Kotaku. The game allegedly features a new historical setting in Victorian-era London, and features evolved gameplay that includes combat from atop moving vehicles and traversal-via-grappling hook.
Kotaku’s report comes from their having seen a target gameplay video, which amounts to a computer-generated mock-up that publishers often use during pre-production and early development to pitch the basic concepts of the game out to media and other interested parties. The word is that “Victory” will be skipping older gaming machines when it surfaces in 2015, coming only to PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One platforms.
The report also notes that Ubisoft Quebec leads development on the game, a shift for the role traditionally held by Ubi Montreal. Assassin’s Creed games amount to all-publisher productions, with nearly every Ubisoft studio contributing to the process. The lead helps to shape the vision, however, and that task reportedly falls to the Quebec team this time around.
Related: Assassin’s Creed Unity review
Ubisoft released two Assassin’s Creed games for fall 2014, with Rogue available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (and Windows at a later date), and Unity available on PS4, Windows, and XB1. Neither game has drawn rave reviews from critics, but Unity has had the added burden of a launch marred by a host of technical issues that Ubisoft continues to sort out even now. The shift to Quebec — which led development on downloadable content for Assassin’s Creed III and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag — should give Montreal the freedom to lock down lingering Unity issues and regroup before it once again takes point on Ubisoft’s premiere franchise.
Kotaku’s got considerably more detail about the makeup of the target gameplay video, so definitely pop over there to get a better sense of what sounds like a fresh approach in “Victory.” We’ve reached out to Ubisoft for comment, and will update accordingly if/when we hear back.
