Future of Assassin's Creed - Ubisoft Finally Doing The Right Thing

I feel rather weird about praising Ubisoft, especially since I have not seen everything that was presented during the recent show, but for me, reason enough to praise the company is the direction that the Assassin's Creed series is now taking. As you probably already guessed, the leaks that surfaced around the middle of past week were accurate. The entire segment of the saga of assassins was shown to journalists last Tuesday and it was under its influence that I decided to write this, right away. The reason was very simple. For the first time in history, Ubisoft has shared an assassin "road map" not dedicated to just one title, but to the series in general, for the next few years.

In fact, the trailer for Assassin's Creed: Mirage, the latest installment of the saga, has been overshadowed by the other announcements, although they were very laconic themselves. First, Ubisoft confirmed the rumors that it's been developing the concept of a large assassin platform, but also assured that it will not affect the release of games in the typical formula – at least for now. Secondly, they announced two more big games, which, as we assume, are at an advanced stage of development.

Both Red and the mysterious Hexe (both names will change in the future) piqued my interest more than anything else said or shown. A Japanese installment is probably the most powerful piece of news from the fans' perspective, but let's not forget that Ubisoft also wants to create another game, a more unusual and – as everything indicates – darker. Hexe seems like going against the stream, because if our assumptions are confirmed, then we will have a story set in Germany and somehow related to pagan magic, and who knows, maybe also witch hunt. You can read more about this in another text from us, where we worked out the symbols seen in the short teaser.

Until now, Ubisoft hasn't been this open about distant future. Yes, the company has occasionally announced, and still has a few active, long-lasting series (Skull & Bones, Beyond Good & Evil 2), but in the case of its flagship IP, it has been extremely cautious ever since its inception. I do not know what has changed, but if I had to guess, I would say that this approach is the result of the departure of several people from the top management of the company, above all Serge Hascoet, who, according to industry leaks, was practically the sole decision maker for many years in terms of all games published by Ubi. His position was supposed to be absolute: his single decision was enough to delete a title or give it a green light. We'll never know how much truth there is to it, but there must be something to it. I am convinced that during his tenure, Assassin's Creed Red would never have happened, because he kept the Japanese episode like an ace up their sleeve and, realizing the power of this setting, wanted to leave it waiting as a security device. The case is similar in the case of Hexe, because although we know practically nothing about the game, The Witch already seems a game that doesn't match the mainstream character of the IP.

Regardless of reasons, I am very pleased with this turn of events. Even the fact that Ubisoft has apparently decided to stop flirting with RPG in the case of Mirage is proof that the company feels a strong need for change. Most of all, however, it dared to take a step forward, because so far, I have associated the French company with extremely cautious moves and an almost cruel reluctance to go anywhere off the beaten path. Yes, the latest Assassin's Creed trilogy brought a lot of novelty, but after the quite groundbreaking and successful Origins, the developers have again worked out a ready template which generated a few better or worse games. After today's show, such a strategy seems to be a blurry memory – and I am glad for that.

Whether the entire Ubisoft Forward left as good an impression as the assassin segment is another matter. However, the new direction for the series is enough for me to be quite confident, because if you make bold decisions regarding your hen that lays golden eggs, the entire company should be ok.