In an interview, it was confirmed (again) that Ubisoft is pushing for a traditional focus on Assassin’s Creed Mirage, ridding it of the deeper RPG and vast open-world elements that have existed in the firm’s flagship franchise since 2017.
It was said that there’s a ‘desire for a character-driven story, focused on the core pillars of the first ACs in a more intimate scale.‘ This is nothing but good news for fans tired of the mythical, fantastical elements found in recent titles like Origins, Odyssey, and even Valhalla, the most recent Assassin’s Creed game.
The Good Within The Bad
This news comes as Ubisoft cancels more unannounced projects in a bid to claw back some financial gains. As sales plummet, the organisation looks to cut costs, and unfortunately, seven projects have now been closed down in just a six-month window.
Now, Ubisoft looks to its all-time top franchise, Assassin’s Creed, to bring things back on track. There’s a hefty roadmap ahead, including items such as the delivery of the impressive mobile-only title, Codename Jade. Recently, a beta build and several minutes of content were leaked online from the game, and it admittedly looks very strong.
In an interview with GamesRadar, Creative Director at Ubisoft, Stéphane Boudon, explained that the development team working on Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the next major title in the franchise, have built it to be a ‘love letter’ to the original Assassin’s Creed, released way back in 2007.
According to Boudon, this is a much smaller, densely-concentrated game, but it’s by no means less ambitious a title:
With its more condensed scope and clear focus on Basim and his coming-of-age story, our main goal with Mirage is to provide a total immersion in 9th Century Baghdad, and the key events of the time for the Hidden Ones. We wanted this game to be a standalone that everyone could enjoy.
Stéphane Boudon, Ubisoft
So, despite Basim having been introduced in 2020’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, there’s no requirement whatsoever for newcomers to the franchise to have played that title to learn about Basim. This is, of course, a sequel – and it’d likely make more sense to play Valhalla after experiencing Basim’s origin story of sorts.
Throughout the interview with GamesRadar, Boudon reiterated the return of several key elements of the franchise, such as crowd blending and classic stealth tools. It really should be a return to form for fans of the older generation of Assassin’s Creed.
For more Insider Gaming news, check out our coverage of the massive leak that has uncovered countless assets for Valve Source titles.
