Assassin's Creed: Mirage

You cannot know anything. Only suspect.

This article contains content from pre-release sources that may or may not be reflective of canon upon release. This article therefore likely contains spoilers.

Assassin's Creed: Mirage is an upcoming installment in the Assassin's Creed series. It will be a stealth-focused game. The game will feature the Hidden One Basim Ibn Ishaq, a central character from the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, and it will take place in the city of Baghdad in the 9th century.^[1]

Plot synopsis

Experience the story of Basim, a cunning street thief seeking answers and justice as he navigates the bustling streets of ninth–century Baghdad. Through a mysterious, ancient organization known as the Hidden Ones, he will become a deadly Master Assassin and change his fate in ways he never could have imagined.^[2]

Gameplay

Set 20 years prior to the events in Valhalla,^[3] players assume the role of Basim Ibn Ishaq with the gender choices, dialogue options, and relationship possibilities removed. After Valhalla had the raven Sýnin provide Eivor Varinsdottir with Eagle Vision despite being a corvid rather than an eagle, Mirage will return to the method used in Assassin's Creed: Origins and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey by having the Eastern imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) Enkidu aid Basim.^[4]

The main location of the game will primarily be the city of Baghdad, with minor parts in the fortress Alamut,^[5] but it will not be explorable.^[6] The Black Box missions from Assassin's Creed: Unity and the Valhalla downloadable expansion The Siege of Paris will return, with Basim being able to explore the environment and find different ways to approach and eliminate his targets.^[5] Another returning feature will be a notoriety system that will either assist or hinder Basim in his objectives.^[7]

Basim will also have a variety of weapons and tools he will use, including smoke bombs, the Hidden Blade,^[4] blow darts, mines, throwing knives, noise makers and more.^[8] There will be no more leveling and XP system, only tool improvement. Basim will have to go to the Moussa brothers in order to upgrade his weapons and tools, such as the blowpipe or bombs.^[9] A skill tree will allow the player to choose different effects for each of his tools or weapons. A new combat mechanic, Assassin Focus, will look similar to the various enhanced abilities Kassandra had access to in Odyssey through the Spear of Leonidas.^[7]

Basim will witness the prelude of the Zanj Rebellion, where the people of Baghdad rose up against the Turk forces of the Caliphate.^[6] The density of civilian crowds will echo their appearance in Assassin's Creed: Unity,^[10] and although Basim's movements were done on the same engine as Valhalla,^[6] they are built from scratch and he will be able to move through crowds and traverse the city by freerunning in similar fashion to Arno Dorian in the French Revolution.^[10]

Unlike all past installments in the Assassin's Creed series, Mirage will be the first to not have a modern day story element, except for the start and end of the game.^[11] Assassination contracts,^[6] and hiding places are set to return. Enemy archers can also shoot Basim's eagle, canceling the Eagle Vision.^[5]

Development

The conceptual title, Assassin's Creed: Rift, was first leaked on 9 February 2022 and reported by Bloomberg.^[12] Originally planned to be a DLC for Valhalla, Rift was expanded into its own standalone game. Bloomberg also revealed that it would be be developed by Ubisoft Bordeaux and was planned for released in late-2022, but was pushed back to the first quarter of 2023.^[13]

On 1 September, after the official title "Assassin's Creed: Mirage" was leaked alongside art for a DLC called "The Forty Thieves" that promised to visit the infamous criminals of legend, Ubisoft formally announced the game,^[14] and promised more details to come at Ubisoft Forward convention on 10 September.^[15] Darby McDevitt, Basim's creator, will reportedly not have any development role, but acted as a consultant on the character.^[4]

Controversy

On 12 September, it was reported that the Microsoft Store listing for Mirage had an Adults Only ESRB rating for featuring real gambling. This was deemed a probable mistake due to the Adults Only rating Ubisoft showed at the start of their Ubisoft Forward event,^[16] and Ubisoft released an statement on the official Assassin's Creed Twitter account declaring that Mirage would not feature gambling or lootboxes.^[17]

Release

Assassin's Creed: Mirage is set to release in 2023 for Amazon Luna,^[16] Windows Microsoft, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S.^[4]

Marketing

After a series of leaks, Ubisoft officially confirmed the existence of Assassin's Creed: Mirage on 1 September.^[14]^[15] On 10 September, Mirage was featured in the 2022 Assassin's Creed Ubisoft Forward showcase, alongside the debut of its cinematic trailer.^[3]^[18] When the various editions of the game were announced, Ubisoft ran a promotion through Twitter for the Collector's Case that fans could vote on their favorite design for the exclusive steelbook.^[19] Out of two design choices, one was decided the most popular by the time voting closed on 23 September.^[20]