Assassin’s Creed Mirage finally has a release date. During the PlayStation Showcase event, held early Thursday, Ubisoft confirmed that the Baghdad-set chapter will arrive October 12 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. The date was actually leaked ahead of time by a few Japanese retail listings, which usually do not list placeholder dates. The title, codenamed ‘Rift,’ was originally planned as an expansion to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but got expanded into a standalone release to fill the gap in Ubisoft’s launch schedule for the fiscal year. Ubisoft Bordeaux leads development on Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which also received a gameplay trailer at the showcase.
As previously reported, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is going back to its franchise roots, presenting a tighter scope focused on crafty assassinations, unlike the open-world RPG-esque elements they adopted in the recent entries. In it, you play as Basim Ibn Ishaq, a side character from AC: Valhalla, who is seen leveraging his skills to track down and eliminate targets. In the cinematic trailer from last year, he was indoctrinated into the Hidden Ones clan by his master/ mentor Roshan (Shohreh Aghdashloo) — turning from a petty thief into an assassin. This new footage appears to be set a while after that, featuring all the hallmarks of the original Assassin’s Creed games. You’ve got air assassinations, hidden blades, and the art of blending with crowds as Basim gradually perfects his art.
“You have died and been reborn,” Roshan says in a voiceover, as we’re treated to visuals of the long-missing parkour system, as Basim is seen hopping across metallic bars and swinging around corners. There’s a new addition called Pole Vault as well, where you perch atop a giant pole and use its centre of gravity to slowly tilt and descend to cover larger distances in the air. Smoke bombs and leaps of faith return, alongside natural stealth mechanics such as pickpocketing. An unnamed character in the Assassin’s Creed Mirage gameplay trailer notes that you could bribe guards to stroll into an establishment, or do it the old-fashioned way by sneaking in. There also appears to be a recurring day and night cycle, which probably could be manipulated to Basim’s will by resting in beds — similar to Dying Light.
The gameplay trailer ends with a flurry of action sequences, where Basim is seen dual-wielding a dagger and curved sword combo and laying waste to enemies. It’s unclear how they work in tandem, but I’m assuming the dagger would be used for parrying incoming attacks. Ubisoft also mentioned that Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which is now up for pre-order on all platforms, will be getting an Arabic voiceover and full localisation. Pre-orders will receive an exclusive bonus quest at launch called ‘The Forty Thieves,’ where you’ll uncover Ali Baba’s cave. Keeping with the theme, will the password be ‘open sesame’ as well?
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is out October 12, across PC (Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Store), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.