Ubisoft didn’t hold back on the Assassin’s Creed announcements during Ubisoft Forward 2022. One of the key announcements was Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade, an open-world Assassin’s Creed game set in Ancient China, coming mobile devices in future – presumably iOS and Android.
Though there have been countless versions of Assassin’s Creed on mobile devices in the past, Codename Jade will be the first console-like open-world Assassin’s Creed game made for mobile. Ubisoft touted that the game would feature the same ‘iconic Assassin’s Creed gameplay, optimised for touch controls’. the game is being led by Marc-Alexis Cote, who was the creative director of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.
Read: Four new Assassin’s Creed games announced at Ubisoft Forward 2022
Codename Jade will be set in Ancient China during the year 623, a period known as the Tang dynasty, where Chinese culture flourished. A brief trailer shown by Ubisoft gave us a glimpse of the in-game visuals and environments, finally focussing on a male protagonist. However, Ubisoft revealed that Codename Jade will feature a custom character creator – a feature that hasn’t appeared in the series since Assassin’s Creed Unity.
This isn’t the first time Assassin’s Creed has explored a Chinese setting, however. Assassin’s Creed Chronicles, a series of 2D platforming games, had an instalment that featured China alongside Indian and Russian episode.
Those perplexed or disappointed by the relegation of the Ancient China setting to a mobile game, rather than a mainline console game, should probably note that China itself has an enormous mobile gaming audience. It has been difficult for major consoles to break into the Chinese market, given strict government regulations, and so building an Assassin’s Creed game that appeals to the Chinese market on a platform they can play makes a lot of sense.
In addition to Codename Jade, Ubisoft also announced that another Assassin’s Creed mobile game is in development with Netflix Games, alongside its TV series adaptation.
No date was announced for Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade, nor was a monetisation model detailed. Given Ubisoft’s recent activity in the mobile gaming space, we can assume that Codename Jade will be a free-to-play game, with some kind of in-game currency system.
In addition to unveiling Codename Jade, Ubisoft also revealed several other upcoming titles for the series: Assassin’s Creed Mirage, a back-to-basics action-adventure game set in Baghdad; Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, the next mainline RPG-styled game, set in Feudal Japan; and Assassin’s Creed Hexe, described as a ‘different’ kind of Assassin’s Creed game, led by Clint Hocking (Far Cry 2, Watch Dogs: Legion), and purportedly set during the witch trials of the Holy Roman Empire.
