Assassin's Creed delay will dent Ubisoft's 2022 financials

The next entry in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise has been delayed to next year, according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier. The new game was believed to be ready for either a late 2022 or early 2023 release, but this new report indicates it'll be launching closer to the spring. 

Previously reported as being set in the Middle East, the new Assassin's Creed game is said to be a spinoff of 2020's Assassin's Creed Valhalla. It was originally planned as an expansion starring the Assassin Basim, but has since grown into a larger game. Its growth prompted developer Ubisoft Bordeaux to ask for additional development time, which is said to be running behind schedule. Since Ubisoft's fiscal year concludes in March, shifting the game to the May-June period affects Ubisoft's balance sheet. 

With the delay of the new Creed title, along with the recently reported push of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora to next year as well, Ubisoft's remaining 2022 output consists of November's Skull & Bones and October's Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. The "smaller unannounced premium title" pushed to 2023-2024 mentioned in passing is believed to be the Assassin's Creed game. 

During that same earnings call, Ubisoft revealed the cancellation of four games due to facing a "more uncertain economic environment." Two of the games were unannounced, while the other pair, Splinter Cell VR and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Frontline, were revealed to the public prior to cancellation. 

There's no end in sight for Assassin's Creed  

Along with the unnamed Creed title, another entry is rumored to be in development. Under the separate codename of "Project Red," its existence was reported last week by Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb, and said to take place in Japan. 

"Maybe it's [Project Red] a part of Infinity, I don't know...it's gonna be set in Japan," revealed Grubb. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier later added on Twitter that Red was a part of Assassin's Creed Infinity, believed to be a live service game. It's intended to have a full reveal this September. 

Whether Infinity brings the series to Japan or not, there's been high industry demand for the setting for years. In 2012, before the release of Assassin's Creed III, creative director Alex Hutchinson admitted that feudal Japan was one of the most requested settings for the series, along with WWII and Egypt. "They're kind of the worst settings for an AC game," said Hutchinson at the time. "People on the internet suggest the most boring settings." He would later clarify his statement in 2014, adding that it would feel overly familiar when multiple games allow players to be a ninja or samurai.