Highlights

  • Assassin's Creed Hexe will be a new flagship game in the series, set in the Holy Roman Empire during the 1500s and 1600s witch trials in Germany.
  • The game's teaser trailer gives hints about the dark and occult tone, with references to Mephisto and an Assassin's Creed insignia made from twigs.
  • Mephisto, a demon in German folklore associated with selling souls to the devil, adds to the mystery of the game, suggesting a possible connection to a coven of assassins practicing witchcraft.

On September 10, 2022, the Assassin's Creed franchise had an online showcase revealing the direction of the series. During this event, several new Assassin's Creed titles were announced. These include the recently released classic-style Assassin's Creed Mirage, the mobile exclusive Assassin's Creed Jade, the next flagship open-world RPG game, Assassin's Creed Red, and the mysterious Assassin's Creed Hexe. Said to be in development by Ubisoft Montreal, the originators of the Assassin's Creed franchise and the veteran team behind AC Valhalla, Hexe is set to be another new flagship game in the series coming down the line.

Assassin's Creed Hexe is described as "a very different kind of Assassin's Creed game" by Ubisoft's Marc-Alexis Cote. Though details are still scarce, the teaser trailer released by Ubisoft gave a few hints as to the tone and setting of the game. The 30-second trailer opens up with ominous music and a scene of leaves falling against a backdrop of dead trees in a dark forest. Before long, the sound of chatter and dogs barking can be heard as the camera pans down to reveal an Assassin's Creed insignia made from twigs, reminiscent of the stick figures from The Blair Witch Project. At the end of the trailer, an image of the logo surrounded by text in the Alphabet of the Magi was shown, including a hint at the story and a reference to Mephisto.

Assassin's Creed Hexe's Mephisto Reference

Assassin's Creed Hexe's Witch Trial Setting

The ancient text was quickly deciphered by die-hard fans. As the word Hexe is German for "witch", fans were able to translate the text into Old German, indicating that the setting for the game Holy Roman Empire during the witch trials of the 1500s and 1600s in what is modern-day Germany. The text on the outer ring of the logo once translated from Old German to English included the Assassin's Creed itself, "We work in the dark to serve the light". The text inside the ring reads the mysterious quote, "Mephisto avenge this house".

Some translations of this same text also suggest that it may also be "Mephisto save our family", using the term house in the classical sense to mean family. This is suggested to be some sort of prayer, incantation, or spell, given the context of witchcraft in the game. The Assassin's Creed icon used in Hexe seems to be occult in origin, so it is possible that the assassins of the game are also practitioners of witchcraft. If this is the case, their plea to Mephisto may be due to the mass hysteria of the time resulting in countless murders in the endless hunt for witches.

Who Is Mephisto In Assassin's Creed Hexe?

Mephistopheles, or Mephisto for short, is a demon in German folklore. He is depicted as an agent of the devil, who will search for corrupted mortals and convince them to sell their souls to Lucifer. Mephisto appears in Diablo 4, among other stories in popular culture. He most prominently appears in the story of Faust, where the titular character sells his soul to the devil for personal gain. Though there doesn't seem to be a direct link between Mephisto and witchcraft, it is possible a coven of a certain belief could worship the demon.

It does seem likely that the Templars of the Assassin's Creed universe could be tied to the witch trials of this time period. Perhaps the assassins practicing witchcraft are misunderstood and come under fire from society, or they're simply hunted down for being enemies of the Templar Order. Whatever the reason, the reference to the demon Mephisto paired with the Assassin's Creed Insignia only adds to the mystery of this new game.