When it comes to Ubisoft's repertoire of video games, it may be difficult to argue that Assassin's Creed is the company's bread and butter. First appearing in 2007, the series has received a new installment almost annually ever since, with Assassin's Creed Mirage lined up to be the latest adventure, due for launch sometime later this year. First announced back during a Ubisoft Forward presentation in late 2022, not much is known about the game aside from it being set in Baghdad and that it will return to a lot of classic Assassin's Creed gameplay conventions.
Unfortunately, since this aforementioned reveal, next to no information has been provided regarding Assassin's Creed Mirage and its development status. It was initially slated for a release early in 2023, but with the year nearly halfway over, these plans have clearly not come to fruition. With the numerous controversies and business woes plaguing Ubisoft as of late, there are concerns about Assassin's Creed Mirage's production. All fans really have to rely on are a bevy of rumors swirling around the internet, including some prominent ones.
Assassin's Creed Mirage - First Batch of Delay Rumors
No more than a few months after Assassin's Creed Mirage was initially revealed, in December 2022 reports began to make the rounds that the project had already been internally delayed, not once, but twice. Although the game is reportedly toning things down from the sweeping scale of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, this doesn't mean it isn't a challenging game to put together. Considering that the game has already allegedly been delayed twice, so soon after being announced to the public, could spell out trouble behind the scenes.
With rumors of issues in the development and two delays, fans were understandably bracing themselves for a substantial delay from the initial release date. However, no more than a week after the above rumors began doing the rounds, another popped up to add more fire to the conversation. A Romanian eCommerce website may have let slip the potential release date of Assassin's Creed: Mirage, pointing to a March 2023 window. Of course, this turned out to be false, and the wait for more concrete information continued.
Assassin's Creed: Mirage - Ongoing Production Issues
The next time news appeared about Assassin's Creed: Mirage's development was in April 2023, claiming what many fans of the franchise had feared all along. The rumor reported that Assassin's Creed: Mirage was taking much longer than initially anticipated, and was going to be positioned as the launch title for Assassin's Creed: Infinity, the franchise's attempt at an ongoing live service model.
Not long after this latest round of rumors hit the net, another leaker made a new claim at a release date. According to a Reddit post written by an anonymous GameStop employee, Assassin's Creed: Mirage had been scheduled for a launch in August 2023. At the point of writing this article, though, the game has now been pushed to October.
Assassin's Creed: Mirage - Leaked Gameplay
Thankfully, not all the rumors surrounding Assassin's Creed: Mirage have been disappointing. Recently, a video clip lasting barely two seconds appeared online that is allegedly gameplay of Assassin's Creed: Mirage in action. While the footage is low quality and these sorts of situations should always be taken with a grain of salt, there are factors that help its validity. The cloth physics seen on protagonist Basim's cloak are extremely realistic, and far above anything seen in prior titles like Assassin's Creed: Origins or Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.
While there are some who are skeptical of the video, claiming it is simply Assassin's Creed: Origins just slightly modified (since both games take place in a desert setting), there are aspects that help strengthen the argument for its legitimacy. The most notable of which is that Assassin's Creed: Mirage began development as DLC for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and would therefore be re-using similar assets and animations. In the brief clip, Basim's running animation is practically identical to Eivor's from Valhalla, which could prove to it being the real deal.
Assassin's Creed: Mirage - Post by Reddit User xj0nathan (Gameplay and Tone)
Fans eager for even more information were blessed this past week by a leak from Reddit user xj0nathan. xj0nathan is credited for knowing a good deal about the Assassin's Creed franchise, having some kind of inside knowledge to help him gain the information. The post in question features a laundry list of new details regarding the gameplay, map, and more. As a whole, the gameplay seems to lean closer to Origins, with a ton of gadgets and items being accessible to players as well as a more condensed skill tree to keep RPG mechanics a bit more streamlined this time.
Even more interesting, is that Mirage will harken back to the original Assassin's Creed, with only four main assassination targets to track down. Players will need to study their movement patterns and weaknesses, and gather the tools needed to kill them. This back-to-basics approach is complimented by the game apparently also removing the emphasis on fantasy and mythology from Valhalla, creating a far more grounded experience.
Assassin's Creed: Mirage - Post by Reddit User xj0nathan (Story and Design)
More information was provided in the same Reddit post regarding the narrative structure and overall flow and design of the game. The story will follow Basim Ibn Ishaq, chronicling his journey from a street thief to the discovery of an artifact of the First Civilization.
The plot, in general, is also said to bridge the gap between Origins' DLC The Hidden Ones and how it leads into what current Assassin's Creed gamers have come to know. The recent post has a lot more leaks that xj0nathan discusses, including a three-symbol reputation system, and the pinned section of the following video's comments details all of them for non-French speakers to peruse.
Over the course of this adventure, players will also partake in far more stealth-based missions than in past games, returning the series to its namesake, and letting players control a warrior of the shadows. Keeping this experience even more focused is the return to a much smaller map. xj0nathan includes a sketch of Mirage's game world, and while simply drawn on a piece of paper, it hints at a world significantly smaller than what was present in Valhalla and Odyssey, centering mostly on the city of Baghdad and its immediately surrounding areas.
Assassin's Creed Mirage is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
