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"So Long, Sweet Prince" - Ubisoft's Rogue Prince Of Persia Game Rolls Out Its Final Update
Developer Evil Empire says it's been "one hell of a run"
Ubisoft Co-Founder Claude Guillemot Dies In Plane Crash
Ubisoft Co-Founder Claude Guillemot Dies In Plane Crash
After nearly 19 years in development hell, Ubisoft's Beyond Good & Evil 2 is somehow still showing signs of life
Ubisoft Bordeaux narrative director Rik Godwin has shared an update on Beyond Good & Evil 2's progress.
Massive Entertainment: The Next Chapter Begins
Ubisoft’s Creative House 2 is named Massive Entertainment, becoming the global label for Tom Clancy's The Division, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, alongside new original IP including March of Giants.
Rumor: Mario + Rabbids dev pitched Zelda spin-off to Nintendo featuring Ganondorf
According to a report from Insider Gaming, the team behind the Mario + Rabbids games once made a pitch to Nintendo for a Zelda spin-off featuring Ganondorf. Nintendo and Ubisoft Milan were apparently discussing their next collaboration in 2022. Previously, this team made Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. The initial pitch was an...
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced opens to 2 million sales on launch day
Ubisoft tends not to share sales figures publicly – which means we can't even compare it to the sales of prior Assassin's Creed games, let alone its peers.
Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake announced for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC
Ubisoft has announced Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake, a remake of the 1999-released turn-based strategy game. It will be available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Ubisoft…
Valve Reportedly Threatened to Delist Rainbow Six Siege on Steam After Ubisoft Offered Cheaper Alternative
Valve has allegedly gone to great lengths to maintain Steam's position as a marketplace titan on PC, including one example that reportedly saw it threaten to retaliate against Ubisoft by delisting Rainbow Six Siege.
PS5 Pro Adds Extra Shine to Your Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Remake
PS5 Pro supported detailed by Ubisoft
Ubisoft Was Reportedly Working On A Legend Of Zelda Spin-Off Starring Ganondorf
Nintendo liked the concept, but reportedly passed on the project after it saw the prototype
Microsoft Starts Offering Free PC Versions of Your Ubisoft Games on Xbox
Some restrictions apply, read article for details.
Signs pointing to possible Nintendo Direct next week
We don’t have any sort of confirmation at this point, but a Nintendo Direct could very well be happening next Thursday, September 10. Much has been made of a social media post going around regarding Just Dance: Decade of Hits. Essentially, some content surrounding the game leaked. Ubisoft made a post on social media to respond to the situation and...
Ubisoft's calling its next push into gen-AI game development Motherbrain
Ubisoft has been quite enthusiastic about generative AI's use in game development, and a new trademark might sound familiar to Nintendo and Metroid fans.
Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot killed in plane crash that claimed 2 lives: report
Claude Guillemot, one of the five brothers who founded Ubisoft in 1986, reportedly died in a twin-engine plane crash in La Baule, France.
Xbox Owners Get Free PC Copies Of Select Ubisoft Games
Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and more!
Ubisoft Switch eShop Sale Now Live, Up To 90% Off
Assassin's Creed Shadows! Mario & Rabbids! Rayman!
Ubisoft Ramping Staff Off Rainbow Six Siege, Other Projects
In addition to layoffs, Ubisoft is ramping off developers from Rainbow Six Siege and other projects at the company.
Ubisoft Says The Original Rayman Legends Is "Staying Put"
Retold apparently won't be replacing it
BREAKING: Netflix to shut down two more game studios
Netflix is sticking with video games but once again reducing the number of studios it owns making games. The streaming giant is closing Los Angeles-based Night School studio, which it acquired in 2021 and plans to close Helsinki-based Moonloot, which was founded in 2022. Just six weeks ago, Night School had released Unhinged, a novel 30-minute first-person horror game, streamable on TVs to Netflix users. The game was hailed by Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters in a call with investors. Six weeks later, Night School is closing. Prior to its Netflix tenure, Night School had developed the award-winning supernatural thriller Oxenfree. A second Oxenfree game followed after the purchase, as well as a mobile game designed to tie in to an episode of the Netflix show Black Mirror. Netflix attributed the studio closures to a prioritization around kids gaming, party games, story-driven fare and games with mainstream hooks, such as a recently released FIFA game. “We see an opportunity to be more focused in our execution, so we are making organizational changes to the business to match those priorities,” a Netflix spokesperson told Game File. Netflix is also cutting jobs from its internal games team. A rep declined to say how many jobs were being lost by these cutbacks. “We are incredibly grateful to the talented colleagues we’re saying goodbye to today. We thank them for all their contributions to Netflix, and wish them the best,” the rep said. Netflix started releasing video games, initially on mobile as a free bonus to subscribers, in 2021. By 2023, Mike Verdu, then the head of Netflix’s game operations, was telling me that the company was committed to growing carefully, as it offered more games and built up internal game studios. At the time, it hadn’t made any gaming job cuts. Since then, Netflix has altered its approach. In 2024, it shut down Team Blue, a start-up studio led by ex-Call of Duty and Halo developers that was exploring making a high-end first-person game for the service. Last October, Netflix shut down another studio, Boss Fight, shortly after Peters praised the team’s Squid Game game to investors. (One of Boss Fight’s main developers now works on the Netflix FIFA game for outside studio Delphi.) And in December, Netflix sold cozy game studio Spry Fox back to its founders. Amid all of this, Netflix has shifted from emphasizing mobile games to offering games through TVs and PCs, via streamed connections, with phones used as controllers. That’s how Night School’s Unhinged worked, along with games such as Boggle and Party Crashers that have collectively helped the Netflix game controller app chart well on mobile app stores. The studio cuts leave Netflix with a central gaming team that works with external developers, and a dedicated first party studio in, Helsinki-based Next Games, which produced many of the company’s couch-centric party games. The move away from having a roster of internal game studios aligns with Netflix’s own approach to shows and movies, which are largely produced externally. The company owns few TV/film production studios of its own. The gaming industry overall is seeing large holders of multiple studios cut back, with Sony, Ubisoft, Embracer, Microsoft and other giants closing or selling off studios. Cuts in California-based studios, where costs often run relatively high, have been particularly acute. Netflix has faced skepticism about its gaming plans for years. The moves today are likely to fuel them, and the company has few upcoming projects to counter the narrative. Among the few hinted, acclaimed independent studio Don’t Nod said last year it was working on a game tied to a major Netflix franchise.
New Official Ghost Recon Release Confirmed For PS5 and Xbox Series X
Ubisoft’s latest Ghost Recon Wildlands release could be the first sign of a long-awaited current-gen revival for the beloved 2017 shooter.
New Details On What Was Cut From Ghost Recon Project OVR
Insider Gaming has learned new details about some of the features that were cut from Ghost Recon Project OVR at Ubisoft.
Ubisoft closing studios in Winnipeg and Belgrade and cutting publishing roles worldwide, 380 jobs at risk
Latest round of cuts includes refocusing Barcelona studio on Rainbow Six, with an unknown number of roles affected
30 Minutes of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Gameplay Has Leaked Online
30 minutes of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced gameplay has leaked online ahead of the game's official release.
Fans Think Ubisoft Leaked The Date Of The Next Nintendo Direct
If true, I guess we already know one game we'll be seeing
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Performance Benchmark Review
Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced breathes new life into the classic with modern graphics, gameplay improvements and full ray tracing support. In our performance review, we examine its graphical fidelity, VRAM usage, upscaling options, and how well it runs across a wide range of modern GPUs.
Ubisoft Co-Founder Dies in Tragic Plane Crash
69-year-old Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot died in a passenger plane crash on June 19.
In A 'Who Could Have Possibly Seen This Coming' Event, Ubisoft Will Shut Down Its NFT Game
Champions Tactics had previously removed its Web3 functionality and will be sunset in October
Ubisoft Adopts Massive Entertainment as Name of Studio Group Led by Christoph Hartmann
Games company Ubisoft has landed on a name for what it has been calling “Creative House 2,” led by general manager Christoph Hartmann, the former head of Amazon Games who recently joined the team. The group is being named Massive Entertainment, adopting the name of Ubisoft’s Sweden-based studio that has been part of the company …
"We really squeezed the PS5 as much as we could": Ubisoft talks tech on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced
How a 13-year-old game becomes a modern graphical showcase.
Ubisoft Co-Founder Claude Guillemot Dies in Air Crash at Age 69
Claude Guillemot, who co-founded French video-game publisher Ubisoft Entertainment SA with his brothers in 1986, has died, according to the company. He was 69.
Nintendo Reportedly Canceled A Ubisoft-Developed Zelda Game Starring Ganondorf
The project apparently began life with a different protagonist.
Report: Assassin’s Creed Hexe Exclusive Character, Story Details Surface
With the long-rumored Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake finally out, Ubisoft is now looking ahead to a different kind of Assassin's Creed. For a while, they've been working on Codename…
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced's Controversial Day 1 DLC Earned $1 Million, Just on Steam
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced's controversial $85 collection of day one DLC earned Ubisoft an extra $1 million on Steam, it's been reported.
Ubisoft Celebrates 3 Million Sales for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced and Promises New Game+ Content
Exactly a week after the game crossed the two-million-sales mark—in less than 24 hours, no less—Ubisoft has announced that Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has officially sold three million units. Black Flag Resynced has also managed fairly decent player retention, with SteamDBstill reporting...
EXCLUSIVE: A New Ambitious FAR CRY Game Enters Development at Ubisoft
A new game in the FAR CRY universe has passed its conception stage at Ubisoft and has entered development at Vantage Studios.
Rayman Legends Retold Launching October 1
The reimagined adventure of the beloved 2013 classic features stunning 3D visuals, a new story, thrilling dragon rides, new musical stages, and more.
Ubisoft Barcelona Celebrates Successful Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Launch With Layoffs
51 Employee's, many of whom worked on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced will celebrate its launch with being laid off.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced sells over 3 million copies, New Game+ is coming
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced seems to be a much-needed Ubisoft hit as it sails past 3 million copies sold in its first week.
The Rogue Prince of Persia ‘Anniversary’ update now available
Publisher Ubisoft and developer Evil Empire have released the “Anniversary” update for The Rogue Prince of Persia.
Ubisoft Fixes Black Flag Resynced 30fps Cutscene PC Bug, PSSR Issue on PS5 Pro
Here's what version 1.06 changes.
Assassin’s Creed co-creator killed in plane crash in France
Claude Guillemot, a founder of Assassin's Creed maker Ubisoft, has died in a plane crash in western France.
Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot dies in plane crash
Guillemot was one of two people killed in the accident on 19th June in Brittany, France, after the twin-engine plane – registered to Guillemot – crashed.
Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot killed in plane crash that claimed 2 lives: report
Claude Guillemot, one of the five brothers who founded Ubisoft in 1986, reportedly died in a twin-engine plane crash in La Baule, France.
"No thanks!" Assassin's Creed Black Flag remake Resynced being review bombed on Steam for single-player microtransactions
The issue of cosmetic microtransactions in single-player games has arisen once again for Ubisoft.
Ubisoft's co-founder Claude Guillemot dies in plane crash
Claude Guillemot, who co-founded French video-game publisher Ubisoft with his brothers in 1986, has died, the company said on Saturday.
Ubisoft Adds Free PC License to Xbox Digital Game Purchases
There has been a lot of talk recently about both the merit of platform exclusive games and digital games, and Microsoft's latest partnership with Ubisoft seems to be a move to support both its Xbox platform on PC and console as well as its digital game sales. The new Xbox × Ubisoft initiative...
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced playable build leaks before release date
With the Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced release date on July 9th, some pirates are already setting sail. A playable build is spreading, unlocking secrets not divulged in Ubisoft’s trailers. The Denuvo game is the latest in a series of targets to have its DRM bypassed.
Claude Guillemot, Ubisoft Co-Founder, Is Dead After Plane Crash in France
Claude Guillemot, 69, founded the video game company, which was also known for the hit Far Cry, with his brothers in 1986. He was killed in western France.
Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot dies in plane crash
Claude Guillemot, who founded Ubisoft with his four brothers, has died at the age of 69.
Ubisoft forms Massive Entertainment to focus on Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and more
Yesterday’s job listings made it clear that Ubisoft is still filling key leadership roles for the Sp
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Global Release and Preload Times Confirmed
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced publisher Ubisoft has confirmed the game's global release and preload times.
Ubisoft Embargoes Journalists Reporting On Latest Round Of Layoffs
This is not typically what embargoes are for
Ubisoft+ Premium Is Free Across Xbox & PC For The Next Five Days
Just remember to cancel if you don't want it
Ubisoft bringing The Crew Motorfest to Nintendo Switch 2
The Crew Motorfest is receiving a new version for Nintendo Switch 2, according to retailer listings. The game will be out on October 8, 2026. The Crew Motorfest originally released in 2023, but is still going strong today with new seasons. The open world driving game lets players explore the island of O’ahu in Hawaii and participate in Motorfest, an...
Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot has died in a plane crash
The French businessman was 69 years old
Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake: Return to Erathia in 2027
Remaining faithful to everything that made the original game so beloved, the remake will feature updated visuals and audio for current-gen consoles, a cohesive narrative, and improved UGC features.
Ubisoft Faces New Studio Closures And Mass Layoffs
Ubisoft Winnipeg is one of the offices that's shutting down
Layoffs begin at Ubisoft Barcelona following Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced launch
"There will not be further mandates for Ubisoft Barcelona, despite the team focusing proposing new AC projects," says affected employee
Claude Guillemot, co-founder of video game maker Ubisoft, dies in plane crash
Claude Guillemot and a flight instructor were flying in a twin-motor Cessna 421 on Friday evening. An investigation into the crash is underway.
Rayman Legends Retold announced for Nintendo Switch 2
Following a recent leak, Ubisoft made it official that it’s developing Rayman Legends Retold. The game is heading to Nintendo Switch 2 on October 1, 2026. Rayman Legends Retold is a remake of the 2013 game. Ubisoft has overhauled the visuals, now in 2.5D / 3D. The team is also adding in new content such as a new villain, a...
Founder of Assassin's Creed maker Ubisoft killed in a plane crash in western France
Claude Guillemot, a founder of Assassin's Creed maker Ubisoft, has died in a plane crash in western France
Ubisoft Adopts Massive Entertainment for Group Led by Christoph Hartmann
Games company Ubisoft has landed on Massive Entertainment as the name for what it has been calling "Creative House 2," led by GM Christoph Hartmann.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows final update launches June 16, adds new story quest and end-game feature
Publisher Ubisoft and developer Ubisoft Quebec will release the final update for Assassin’s Creed Shadows on June 16, the companies announced. It will add the new story quest “Black Tid…
EXCLUSIVE: How Ubisoft and Nintendo's Partnership Ended With a Canceled Zelda Title
Ubisoft and Nintendo were once going to develop a Zelda title together, but the game was cancelled following its prototype in late 2023.
Play More Ubisoft Games on PC: New Content Now Available for XBOX on PC, Plus Free PC Redemption
Ubisoft and XBOX are expanding their partnership with new Ubisoft content for XBOX on PC, and a free benefit for select games, where XBOX console players can snag the PC version at no additional cost.
The Crew Motorfest Comes to Nintendo Switch 2 on October 8
Race through Hawaii, curate your car collection, and build your own tracks on the go.
Ubisoft teases Ghost Recon news soon after leaks
Will the long-rumored Project OVR be officially revealed?
Ubisoft hosting new Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch sale, lowest prices ever for Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection, Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition, more
Ubisoft is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a brand new sale on the Nintendo eShop, which includes games like Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection, Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition, and more at new low prices. Other notable releases are included as well. You can save big on the Mario + Rabbids series, The Rogue Prince of Persia, and more. The full...
Ubisoft renames Creative House 2, home of The Division, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell, as Massive Entertainment
Ubisoft has announced that its Creative House 2 business unit, which houses Tom Clancy's The Division, Ghost Recon, and…
Ubisoft joins Xbox's disc-to-digital program, with more publishers to follow
Some outlets were highlighting Ubisoft's lack of involvement in Xbox's disc-to-digital program. Perhaps we should remind ourselves that it's still in Alpha testing.
Rayman Origins Remaster Leak Reveals First Details About Enhanced Edition from Ubisoft
Ubisoft seems to have another leak problem, as what appears to be a remastered version of Rayman Origins has appeared on the Xbox Store – and it's only $2,000.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Sales Reach 2 Million on Day 1
Ubisoft has announced that Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has passed 2 million copies sold in its first day since launch.
AC: Black Flag Resynced Devs Celebrating Launch With Layoffs
Ubisoft Barcelona faces cuts at the end of July
Dozens of Employees Laid Off at Ubisoft San Francisco Offices
Ubisoft has laid off dozens of people at Ubisoft's San Francisco offices, which includes marketing and IT staff.
Ubisoft cofounder Claude Guillemot dies in plane crash
Claude Guillemot died after a Cessna plane carrying the Ubisoft founder crashed on Friday in western France. He was 69.
Rayman Legends Retold ‘Overview’ trailer
Publisher Ubisoft and developers Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Milan have released a six-minute game overview trailer for Rayman Legends Retold.
Ubisoft all but rules out a Rayman 1 remake, says it's near impossible to do
Ubisoft comments on why a remake of Rayman 1 is unlikely to happen.
Ubisoft, Square Enix Opt Out of XBOX Disc to Digital Program
Ubisoft and Square Enix are not participating in XBOX's disc to digital program, players have discovered, with rumors of more big absences.
Rainbow Six Tactics Announced, First Single-Player Rainbow Six Game Since Vegas 2 in 2008
Ubisoft has announced Rainbow Six Tactics, an upcoming turn-based tactics game starring familiar Rainbow Six Siege Operators. Revealed at Gamescom's Opening Night Live showcase, it will retail for $49.99 and is due out in 2027 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. It's the first single-player game in the franchise since Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2008.
Ubisoft Will Reportedly Try Relaunching Watch Dogs: Legion With a Director's Cut
Ubisoft will attempt to relaunch Watch Dogs: Legion next year via a revamped Director's Cut, it's been reported.
Claude Guillemot, co-founder of 'Assassin's Creed' maker Ubisoft, killed in plane crash in France
A founder of Ubisoft, the global gaming company behind Assassin's Creed, has been killed in a plane crash in western France.
Rayman Legends Retold targeting 60 FPS on Nintendo Switch 2, will have content parity with other platforms
Ubisoft has provided the early word on what to expect from Rayman Legends Retold on Nintendo Switch 2. For those that missed out on the news, the game was just revealed today. It’ll be a remake of the beloved 2013 game, now in 2.5D / 3D plus new content. As for the Nintendo Switch 2 version, it looks like Ubisoft...
Barclays Keeps Their Hold Rating on UBISOFT Entertainment (0NVL)
Tipranks Press Release.
Co-founder of ‘Assassin’s Creed’ video game giant dies in plane crash
Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot, 69, died in the crash on France’s Atlantic coast along with another occupant of a twin-engine Cessna 421.
Ubisoft's 'Motherbrain' Gen-AI Now Serves as a 'Global Entity' Across Ubisoft
Ubisoft GenAI 'Motherbrain' will serve as a global entity for Ubisoft's games, being implemented into as many games as possible.
Rayman Legends Retold delayed to December 3
Publisher Ubisoft and developers Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Milan have delayed Rayman Legends Retold from its previously planned October 1 release date to December 3. It will be available for …
Yet more layoffs reported at Ubisoft, this time in San Francisco
On the same day as Ubisoft announced it was closing its studios in Winnipeg and Belgrade and proposing further changes …
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Tactics announced for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC
Ubisoft has announced Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Tactics, a turn-based tactical game set in the Rainbow Six universe. It will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store…
With "a dozen" music levels, Rayman Legends Retold doubles down on the best bit of the original game, and having played it I couldn't be happier
By adding in more music tracks to Rayman Legends Retold, Ubisoft proves the indefatigable spirit of the 2013 game is still alive.
Rayman Legends Retold interview: developer on origins, engine, new content, Kung Foot's big return, and more
If you somehow missed the news, Rayman is back – at least with a remake. Ubisoft has returned with a brand new take on the series’ most recent mainline release, Rayman Legends. It’s actually been thirteen years since we originally saw Rayman Legends. Ubisoft has now returned to this one with a full graphical overhaul that’s now in 3D /...
Ubisoft Closes Belgrade Studio, 100 Employees Let Go
Ubisoft has closed its studio in Belgrade, Serbia. The shutdown will result in all of its employees being let go.
Despite having an offline mode, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced was unplayable when Ubisoft Connect went down
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced players on PC were shocked to find that a Ubisoft Connect outage has locked them out of playing the game.
47 revelatory hours with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
To review this month’s supposed remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, I must first correct the record. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced isn’t a game about pirates (and assassins) in the 18th century Caribbean. Sure, sure, that’s what the trailers would have you believe. They’ve go their clips of Edward Kenway swinging his swords and steering his pirate ship into cannon-blasting combat against British frigates. Is Resynced truly a pirate game? Of the 47 hours I spent playing Resynced over the past few weeks, I will admit I spent maybe 44 (?) of them collecting plunder with Blackbeard, drinking rum with Anne Bonny and debating the pros and cons of the lawless pirate-run settlement Nassau with Benjamin Hornigold. I may in fact have spent dozens of hours sailing to remote islands, reading treasure maps, opening messages left in bottles, sinking the odd Man o’ War with a well-timed broadside, collecting sea shanties for my crew, befriending a pet monkey, and hunting whales. I am nevertheless neither so Gullible nor so Narrow-Minded as to call the magnificent Resynced a “pirate remake.” Oh no. Forget any reviews of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced you may have read. Forget what you yourself may have played, if you’ve spent any time with the game since its launch. What Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is really about I’m here to give you the scoop (spoilers for Resynced’s Animus menu lore, which many players are probably not going to see): Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, the new game whose development was led by Ubisoft Singapore, is set in the year 2096. It’s about a societal split, about revolution, about an old Assassin’s Creed adventure repurposed in the series’ distant future as propaganda or samizdat. It’s about the overheated future of 2096, essentially conquered by the series’ well-established nefarious Templar-run company Abstergo. (In this future, Abstergo is, among other things, remaking a 2013 pirate movie called Devils of the Caribbean, but this time in VR. The VR version will be backed by a marketing plan that involves AI influencers, a 10,000-avatar “metaverse premiere event” and that manufacturing of memes aimed at “50 million VR nodes.” See what I mean about Abstergo being evil?) Resynced is about a late 21st-century population mollified by the widespread use of Abstergo’s Animus devices which let people experience the lives of historical figures culled from “genetic memories.” It’s about an insurgent faction of Assassins. And it’s about a plan to wake the population into revolutionary fervor by showing them the memories of 18th century pirate Edward Kenway, who—as depicted in the original Black Flag and again in Resynced—gradually comes to an understanding about the Assassins of his day and their centuries old fight for freedom. Resynced is also about an AI developed within the late 21st-century Animus, called Ego. It has found a way to alter genetic memories, to create and show Animus users false ones. The game is about Ego’s efforts to tell the people experiencing Edward Kenway’s memories that Kenway was wrong, that fighting against order is folly, that we should crave a world where “compliance is rewarded with power.” Who are we in this game? We’re an unnamed Animus user in 2096 who experiences Kenway’s journey virtually. At four moments during Kenway’s exploits in the Caribbean our virtual jaunt can be interrupted for 10-15 minutes, as we explore Animus “rifts” where Ego explicitly tries to tell us how wrong Kenway was. None of this is what 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was about, of course. That was a different game, even if you also spent dozens of hours pirating as Kenway in that game, across missions and a map that’s been faithfully reintroduced and rebuilt for Resynced. The 2013 Black Flag was about you playing as an unnamed researcher newly hired in 2013 by Abstergo Entertainment, the video game development wing of the Templars’ evil-corp. In that game, you were assigned to use the Animus to dive into the genetic memories of Desmond Miles, a man who died in Assassin’s Creed III and who was descended from a long line of Assassins (and at least one Templar) whose adventures were featured across the prior AC games. In 2013’s Black Flag, your mission was to plumb the Edward Kenway experience for material that Abstergo could use in productions such as the motion picture Devils of the Caribbean, though the Templars had some ulterior motives for the assignment. Resynced is therefore not a remake of 2013’s Black Flag. It’s a sequel. It is a new game about a new exploration of Edward Kenway’s pirate/assassin journey, set 83 years after the framing sequences of the original game. Resynced provides a new narrative framework that, thanks to the concept of an AI that wants to alter historical memories, arrives with creative justification to tweak a now-classic 13-year old game. That makes Resynced, already a hot seller, a tantalizing hint of where Ubisoft could go with a line of Assassin’s Creed remakes. They could remake the first game, the Ezio games, even the recent ones set in ancient Egypt and Greece. And for each, they could not just modernize the graphics and controls but expand and alter their sequences of events to use them as reference points for a conflict set in the late 21st century, as rival factions try to weaponize historical memories. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, even when that work consists of ravings about Assassin’s Creed’s modern day plot, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe A story most players will probably miss If you didn’t know any of this, I’m not surprised. If you played the game and still didn’t catch it, I’m not a bit shocked. If Ubisoft has no plans to do more of this, I won’t fall down. Almost all of what I’ve described is optional and missable in Black Flag Resynced. I nearly missed it myself, as I planned for a breezy playthrough of an old Assassin’s Creed favorite. Instead, I found myself in a 40+ hour hunt for the “real” story, buried deeper in Resynced than any gold-filled chest. The story of 2096 is Resynced’s meta-story, told in two remote pockets of the game: 1) four optional playable “rifts” that players may find as they proceed through Resynced’s pirate fantasy , 2) in dozens of text files tucked three menus deep in the game’s barely-interactive Animus hub. Assassin’s Creed games have almost always had a meta-story about people in the 21st century (usually matching the game’s release year) and their connections to the main history portions you play. Those meta-stories have always been squeezed into the margins, though seldom as severely and as, uh, graphiaclly simple, as in recent games. Back in 2013, the modern-day exploits of you as an Abstergo Entertainment employee were prominent. They were portrayed via first-person portions that occasionally interrupted the third-person Kenway experience and could be explored for hours, complete with their own missions, side quests and puzzles. Resynced’s 2096 story—of Assassin “Watchers” vs. Abstergo/Tempar goons, of rogue AIs, of panicking scientists, of a woman wondering why her Animus-addicted husband is muttering about Mary Read (“What does he mean by Assassins?”), of a fight for the population’s hearts and minds via varying interpretations of Edward Kenway’s life choices—is mostly told through unlockable text files. The files are interesting. Offered via diary entries, intercepted chats and news reports, they present varied perspectives of a world in crisis. One set works as a narrative puzzle as it reveals the Rashomonic interpretations of a massacre, or was that a successful Assassin hit? Another favorite reveals the rising bitterness of a person who, through Edward Kenway’s journey, now shakes at the ignored evil around him. One surmises that Ubisoft is averse to putting the Assassin’s Creed’s meta-story in the way of more marketable pirate playgrounds and ninja/samurai epics. Instead, we get a better-than-nothing text-in-menus approach introduced in 2025’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In Shadows, players unlocked the meta-story text files largely via time-gated missions that called on the user to kill X number of enemy type Y, clear three enemy castles, re-win a three-phase fighting tournament, and other grinds. Time restrictions on accessing these missions and unlocking the files meant it could take players months to access the full story in-game. But even in the most hardcore Assassin’s Creed hangouts, the fanbase instead seemed to throw up their hands rather than grind to keep up. In Resynced, Ubisoft has shown some mercy, diminishing the amount of new text files that are tied to timed grinds. Now, most of the text-based 2096 lore are associated with “data file” collectibles that players can find in the world. That includes a batch of written entries that explain a historical link between the feudal Japan era in Shadows and the piracy adventures in Black Flag. Players who explore a lot will find dozens of data files, though the game does not appear to offer any in-game tracker for finding each one. You just need to keep looking for them. As of this writing, I have most of them, but not all. I can’t find any full guide for them online. And even Ubisoft’s optional $5 microtransaction that reveals lots of items in-game does not appear to reveal the locations of the text files (at least the official description omits them from its collectibles list). That’s not a huge bother, because tracking the data files down compelled me to re-explore the waves and islands of Black Flag. That was a thoroughly pleasant task to do for the first time in a dozen years. I expect many players, though, will be content to wait for the files to be reproduced in an online AC wiki somewhere, the easier to read on a web page. It may not seem enticing to play a video game in order to gradually unlock pages of text to read. Why not, you may ask, just read a book, where they put the pages in order? For one, they’ve not tucked this latest installment of Assassin’s Creed’s meta saga in a book. I also enjoy the unordered delivery, the dawning comprehension of a story about 2096’s desperate people and questionable tech, which I glimpsed first at its middle, then the end, then the front, then other moments in between1. I am also enamored with the idea of the Assassin’s Creed games I’ve previously played, including Black Flag, being repurposed for an information war. The ideas in Resynced’s meta-story, which builds off characters and ideas in Shadows’ chunks of text, are strong. The potential of where they could go with it is exciting. As for the pirate stuff? Looks great, controls pretty well, is fun to play and oh so speedy in terms of how much of a good time you can have with each sit-down. It never gets old to chase a new shanty page across a rooftop, bombard a fort with upgraded mortars or use a diving bell to explore sunken wrecks (hats off to the team at Ubisoft Barcelona that worked on the underwater portions in Resynced; that team is now facing layoffs, such is the misery of modern gaming and oft-troubled Ubisoft). New pirate missions in Resynced involving new ally characters are brief, dramatic and add more to Edward’s story, even if the gameplay perks they provide barely enhance the gameplay. A new denouement for high-class pirate Stede Bonnet is affecting; a new hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure is a welcome extra moment. A new epilogue to hunt down a pirate killer, on the other hand, over-complicates Kenway’s character. The ending credits remain my favorite of any game I’ve ever played. Black Flag provides great source material. The revisit is well-made and a great sign of what could be. It is offered in a different wrapper that hints at an opportunity for more interesting remakes to come, should Ubisoft choose to pursue such treasures—and as we brace to resist or comply with an Abstergo future. 1 The messages that Edward Kenway finds in bottles tell another out-of-order story, one about a man reckoning with the strange memories and voices he’s heard in his head since he was a boy. That tale was also in the 2013 game and develops into one of Black Flag’s most compelling character arcs. In Resynced, it has lost its climax, because the bottle story previously paid off in the halls of the first-person Abstergo Entertainment, which is exclusive to the older game. An altered resolution, written by the 2013 game’s lead writer is fine, doesn’t invalidate the 2013 version, but makes for an inferior final note.
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