In the last few years, Ubisoft’s flagship franchise has seen a lot of significant changes in its core design.Assassin’s Creedused to be more akin to an action/adventure game, focusing strictly on the core concept of “social” stealth in crowds. For a while, that was the franchise’s unique gameplay hook, hiding incognito among citizens or contextual hiding spots and pretending to be another face in the crowd. Though, as the series continued on annually, cracks started to show in theAssassin’s Creedgameplay loop that harmed the series' replayability.
Among other factors likeUnity’s poor release, eventually Ubisoft took some time off fromAssassin’s Creedto bring the franchise back to the drawing board.Assassin’s Creedfound success in a radical redesign of its core formula, swapping to a RPG-style framework similar to that of theWitcher 3. From there, whileOriginsperformed quite well for a first outing,Assassin’s Creed Odysseymarked the true blossoming of theAssassin’s CreedRPG. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing, that success meansAssassin’s Creedwon’t return to its foundational roots.
The Annualization of Assassin’s Creed Started to Crack
In a similar scenario, the first outing ever forAssassin’s Creedwasn’t particularly remarkable, but it was the start of something great. While the first game helped establish the capabilities of the franchise’s unique social stealth systems,Assassin’s Creed 2was when the series came into its own. A compelling revenge story, entertaining characters, honed and refined stealth gameplay, and a huge expansion in scale and scope are what madeAssassin’s Creed 2and the series as a whole a burgeoning success.
Subsequent games would continue to iterate onthe foundationAssassin’s Creed 2laid, even after Ezio’s storywas finished, but that’s really when the cracks in the gameplay and annual release model started to show. Even beforeAssassin’s Creed Unitybecame the straw that broke the camel’s back, there were signs inAssassin’s Creed 3andAssassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. Even in those two examples, where bothBlack FlagandAssassin’s Creed 3distracted with exploration and naval combat, the consistent use of tailing missions and lackluster implementation of social stealth were starting to disappoint and alienate the core fanbase.
Borrowing the RPG Approach Revitalized Assassin’s Creed
As a result, after the troubling release ofUnityand lackluster release ofSyndicate, theAssassin’s Creedfranchise switched gears withOrigins.Assassin’s Creed Originstook the franchise much further back in time to Ancient Egypt, and also ushered in the RPG mechanics and progression. This new direction for the series saw respectable commendation from fans old and new, and while the social stealth aspects were much more subdued, the context of the game’s story justified the new loot and RPG-based progression. This same unique take wouldpersist through the next sequel,Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
From there,OdysseytookOrigins' foundation and ran away with an expansive and engaging RPG experience that saw widespread acclaim. The variety and importance of loot became much more customizable, allowing Alexios/Kassandra to be very versatile fighters. The RPG mechanics themselves rewarded and encouraged exploration of Ancient Greece, without offending the pace of the game’s main story too far.Assassin’s Creed Odysseyended up being one of the most successful entriesin the whole franchise to date, solidifying the fact that the series' new RPG direction was a hit among fans both old and new.
Assassin’s Creed May Never Return to its Social Stealth Roots
Forhardcore fans of traditionalAssassin’s Creed, especially those who don’t particularly care for RPGAssassin’s Creed, they may not be especially thrilled with the future ofAssassin’s Creed. It’s very possible that theAssassin’s Creedfranchise will stick to the RPG mechanics for as long as possible, especially considering the success its brought for Ubisoft. That’s not to say the series is beholden to what sells games, rather that just means future time periods in the series will likely adhere to RPG-level progression. More modern time periods that take place in burgeoning metro areas likeAssassin’s Creed 2just wouldn’t lend well to that type of game.
That also likely means that more modern historical time periods like fromUnityandSyndicatelikely won’t see any mileage for a while. The highly requested Feudal Japan setting forAssassin’s Creed, for example, would be perfect for the RPG-style progression and mechanics that’s currently standard for the series. Whereas a World War 2 setting, where there’s more modern technology as well as greater population density in cities, RPG mechanics probably wouldn’t fit. At the very least in the near future,Assassin’s Creedprobably won’t return to the social stealth rootsof the original games. That likely won’t disappoint a majority of the fanbase, but for traditionalists, it’s not a good sign.
Assassin’s Creed Valhallareleases on July 04, 2025, for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The PS5 version releases on Jul 30, 2025.
