An Assassin’s Creed multiplayer co-op game was reportedly cancelled by Ubisoft. This is after the company has also issued mass layoffs and cancelled big IPs. Read on to find out more about this supposed co-op Assassin’s Creed game.
Ubisoft Cancels Co-Op Spin-Off Project Called Assassin’s Creed League
Assassin’s Creed: League Was Set to Be Ubisoft’s Premier Multiplayer Experience
Ubisoft reportedly cancels Assassin’s Creed League, a four-player cooperative multiplayer game that will supposedly offer players a standalone Assassin’s Creed experience. It is separate from the six cancelled Ubisoft projects that made headlines for the past few months, making this the latest entry met with an unfortunate end after the company’s major restructuring.
The main idea of Assassin’s Creed League was that four assassins band together across feudal era Japan. Ubisoft Annecy, the developers behind previous Assassin’s Creed titles such as Brotherhood, Unity, and Black Flag, were the same people responsible for bringing another multiplayer game in the Assassin’s Creed universe. According to the report from French Gaming Media, Origami, "[Ubisoft Annecy] has been working internally to reignite the multiplayer flame within the Assassin’s Creed brand."
Assassin’s Creed League failed to materialize since, thus reaching the point of cancellation. According to the same report by French gaming site Origami, Ubisoft explored multiple concepts before ultimately shelving the idea of League. One proposal was taking an existing traditional Assassin’s Creed title already in development and integrating the studio’s multiplayer expertise to it.
This is where the idea of integrating it to Assassin’s Creed Shadows took place. While Ubisoft did not outright state that it shares the same ties with Naoe and Yasuke’s journey, the report mentioned that it "...began its lifeline as a potential DLC for Assassin’s Creed Shadows." It was meant to be an expansion and part of Shadows’ Season Pass, but ultimately axed, as the company stated that it "...deemed too time-consuming to produce to achieve the desired quality."
The Cancelled Assassin’s Creed Co-Op Game Could Still Have a Future
Despite the series of bad news, the report stated that "Ubisoft intends to perpetuate the game’s legacy," and has kept a small team of ten employees tasked to transfer their expertise and talent to their proprietary Anvil Engine, the same graphical engine that powered acclaimed titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Rainbow Six: Siege.
In the report, the remaining employees were then assimilated to Vantage, Ubisoft’s subsidiary co-financed by Tencent. Their goal was to create modes that are "highly replayable and less expensive to produce than League." They could also develop pitches for more cooperative modes that could work on future Assassin’s Creed titles.
This is just one of many projects Ubisoft has canceled over the years, the most recent being the unfortunate cancellation of the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake, along with six other undisclosed IPs.
As for the mainline Assassin’s Creed franchise, the long-rumored Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Remake is still in development, though no release window has been announced. The studio is also reportedly working on another Assassin’s Creed multiplayer title in the vein of Mediatonic’s Fall Guys. Details remain scarce, but the project (codenamed Assassin’s Creed Invictus) is said to be a standalone entry featuring Team Deathmatches and Battle Royale modes with prominent series icons like Ezio Auditore.
So far, none of these games have been publicly showcased since Ubisoft’s major corporate restructuring a few months ago. With the company’s next shareholders report scheduled for February 12, there is a possibility that more information about Ubisoft’s plans for the Assassin’s Creed franchise could be revealed.
Source:
Assassin's Creed League Report by Origami
