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Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe / Witch – Everything we know

A very different kind of Assassin's Creed game is on the way from Ubisoft, Codename Hexe, which looks like it could involve witch hunts.
Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe Witches Ubisoft Forward 2022

In celebration of the 15th anniversary of the series, Ubisoft revealed several upcoming Assassin’s Creed video game projects as part of Ubisoft Forward 2022. One of these was described as a ‘different kind of Assassin’s Creed’ game – Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe.

It’s being developed by Ubisoft Montreal and led by longtime Ubisoft designer Clint Hocking, which is very intriguing. Here’s everything we know about Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe so far:

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


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

The initial reveal trailer for Codename Hexe didn’t really give us a lot to go on – a gothic-looking forest and not much else. But we can make a few assumptions from the name of the game itself.

‘Hexe’ is the German word for ‘witch’, which has led many people to presume that the game will be set during the witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire, which occurred during the 16th and 17th centuries, in the region which is known as present-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.


Who is the protagonist of AC Codename Hexe?

Honestly, your guess is as good as ours. We didn’t get a glimpse of any kind of character figure in the announcement trailer for Hexe.

However, given that Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade – the mobile AC game set in Ancient China that was also announced at Ubisoft Forward 2022 – has a custom character creator, that might be on the table for Hexe, too. Maybe.


What is the gameplay of Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe like?

Ubisoft described Hexe as a ‘different kind of Assassin’s Creed game’, and while it didn’t go into any more detail, the company named Clint Hocking as the game’s lead creative, which opens up a lot of exciting possibilities.

Hocking is a longtime Ubisoft designer, known for being the creative director on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2, disappearing to work for Valve for a bit, and then returning to Ubisoft to be the creative director on Watch Dogs: Legion.

He’s known for putting creative and innovative twists on gameplay systems in a way that allows them to create unique emergent narratives when players interact with them. The results have always been both impressive and polarising, which makes his work that much more interesting.

In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Hocking and his team added far more nuance to the stealth simulation, making noise a far bigger factor to consider. In Far Cry 2, the gameplay twists involved degrading weapons, fire that propagated wildly, and a malaria system that always seemed to kick in at the worst time. In Watch Dogs: Legion, the core mechanic was the fact that literally any character in the world could be your protagonist or ally.

Needless to say, Hocking and the Hexe team at Ubisoft Montreal probably have some very interesting ideas in the works, and we’re quite excited to see them.


What platforms will Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe be on?

Our educated guess is that Hexe will be available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S at the very least. Ubisoft is usually good about supporting older consoles however, so depending on how far out Hexe is from release, there’s every chance it could come to PS4 as well.


When will AC Codename Hexe be released?

No release date or window has been given for Hexe. Given that Assassin’s Creed Mirage is slated for 2023, we can only assume the game will arrive in 2024 or later.


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