Assassin’s Creed China for mobile – Codename Jade – Everything we know

Assassin's Creed is going back to China in a new, open-world mobile game. It's called Codename Jade, and here's what we know so far.
Assassin's Creed Codename Jade China mobile Ubisoft Forward

Ubisoft seemed to just keep rolling out the Assassin’s Creed announcements at Ubisoft Forward 2022, revealing several upcoming games for the series. One of them was Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade, an open-world mobile game set in Ancient China. This will be the second foray into the Chinese setting for the series.

Ubisoft is currently going all-in on mobile adaptations, with games like Rainbow Six Mobile and The Division: Resurgence paving the way for Codename Jade. With the Chinese gaming audience also heavily invested in mobile gaming, an AC game set in China makes a lot of sense. Here’s everything we know about it so far:

Read: Four new Assassin’s Creed games announced at Ubisoft Forward 2022


What is the setting of Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade?

Image: Ubisoft

Codename Jade will be set in Ancient China, during the year 215, a period called the Qin dynasty. This was the first dynasty of Imperial China.

Beyond that, not much is known. It’s likely this won’t have any strong connection to Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, which was set in the 16th century.


Who is the protagonist of Assassin’s Creed China?

While the reveal trailer for Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade showed a male protagonist, Ubisoft revealed that the game would have a custom character creator, a feature which hasn’t been seen since AC Unity in 2014.

We assume that you’ll be able to choose the gender as well as the look of your protagonist, but how this affects the narrative and the personality of your character is something that we’ll be left to speculate on for the time being.

Image: Ubisoft

Fans of Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China can probably rule out its protagonist, Shen Jun, from appearing – though there’ll probably be a costume homage.


What is the gameplay of Assassin’s Creed China like?

While there have been several Assassin’s Creed games on mobile, none of them has been a fully-fledged open-world game like their mainline console counterparts, which Codename Jade will be.

According to Ubisoft, it’ll be ‘optimised for touch controls’ at the very least, and if you’ve played any of the most recent mainline Assassin’s Creed games, you can make some safe assumptions about how the combat will feel, and what the progression will look like.

However, being a mobile game, there’s a very good chance that Codename Jade will be a free-to-play game with monetisation options. These will likely alter the flow and activities of the game in significant ways.


Which platforms will Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade be on?

Image: Ubisoft

While no release details were shared by Ubisoft during the announcement of the new AC China game, we can safely assume that being a mobile game, it will be available on iOS and Android devices.


When will Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade be released?

No specific release date was shared for Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade. Typically, mobile games enter a closed beta or soft launch stage before being released worldwide, so some regions may see Codename Jade earlier than others.

Given that this is a mobile title, and will not interfere with the next mainline AC games, Assassin’s Creed Codename Red and Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe, it’s possible we could see this one launch sometime in 2023.


For more on upcoming Assassin’s Creed titles, read the following roundups:

Edmond was the founding managing editor of GamesHub. He was also previously at GameSpot for 13 years, where he was the Australian Editor and an award-winning video producer. You can follow him @EdmondTran