Assassin’s Creed Baghdad, the latest in the line of Ubisoft’s open-world RPGs, is now eyeing a 2023 launch window. The new Assassin’s Creed title, codenamed Rift, was initially planned as an expansion to 2020’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and was slated to release later this year. The news comes via a Bloomberg report, which states that the game will now launch sometime in Spring 2023 — that’s between March and May 2023 — marking the “second such setback in recent days for the French video game publisher.”
According to Bloomberg, the planned expansion to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was modified into a standalone game in an effort to fill the gap in Ubisoft’s “thin” launch schedule for the fiscal year. Assassin’s Creed Baghdad will now be its own standalone, full-fledged project, albeit tighter in scope compared to the recent sprawling, open-world entries. The still-unannounced Rift is on track to release in either May or June 2023, which suggests it could slip into Summer 2023.
“Ubisoft’s office in Bordeaux is leading development on the game and asked for more time because Rift is running far behind schedule, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans,” it reads.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, which is being developed in collaboration with Disney, was expected to release this autumn. But last week, Ubisoft pushed the launch back to a vague 2023–24 window. This leaves the AAA game publisher with two releases this year — the pirate game Skull and Bones and a Nintendo Switch exclusive Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope — both of which went through a difficult developmental process and delays.
Last week, details on a separate Assassin’s Creed title, codenamed Project Red, surfaced online. Details are sparse, but according to people familiar with development and games reporter Jeff Grubb, the game is set in feudal Japan and follows the RPG format, as seen in modern Assassin’s Creed games. Project Red will be part of Assassin’s Creed Infinity, which is described as Ubisoft’s live-service platform for future entries.
In response to a Reddit post, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier confirmed that Project Red will release after Assassin’s Creed Baghdad. “After that will be [Assassin’s Creed] Infinity, and while that’s going to include a bunch of different games/ experiences/ biomes/ whatever you want to call them, I’ve heard about the main two and neither of them are Aztec,” it reads.
There is no official word from Ubisoft, but we can expect Assassin’s Creed Baghdad to launch on all current-gen platforms — PS5, Xbox Series S/X, and Windows PC, in Spring 2023. Any further updates on the game and the subsequent live-service platform should be expected in September, as the publisher hosts an online event titled, ‘The Future of Assassin’s Creed.’