Today Ubisoft showed off a wide variety of upcoming and currently available titles from the French publisher. With Ubisoft Forward, there were some fun titles like Mario + Rabbids and Just Dance, a bunch of stuff for The Division franchise, some hints at a partnership with Netflix, and a lot of Assassin’s Creed. Did I mention Assassin’s Creed? Because good god there’s a ton of that.
You can check out the whole show here, but these were the notable moments.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
The colourful fusion of Mario and the Rabbids is set to hit the Nintendo Switch on October 20 of this year. Ubisoft kicked off its showcase by demoing some gameplay from Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. The footage showed off a unique battle against a worm set on a speeding train in a lush environment. Mario and friends (and the Rabbids!) can be selected based on what the best stats are for the situation, so there are some neat tactical decisions to make with fun characters.
Skull and Bones
It feels like we’ve been waiting forever (we have), but we’ve finally seen some more gameplay of Skull and Bones, Ubisoft’s upcoming pirate sim. It sure gives off major Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, which is far from a bad thing. Ship-to-ship battles, plundering and profiting from loot, and kitting out your pirate vessel. Ubisoft also shouted out their “Insider Program” for the game if you’re itching to get in on early versions of the game. The game will be crossplay and, thank god, you can turn off PVP, so no friendly fire or dealing with annoying randos if you desire a more chill pirate trip.
Riders’ Republic
The daring BMX, skateboarding, snowboarding, and more game, Riders’ Republic got to show off its Season 4 update, “Freestylin.’” It’s set to launch on September 14, letting you jump over parked cars, pull off tricks in skateparks, and grind on rails instead of taking the stairs like a normal human being. You can jump in now for free on the game’s site. The BMX add-on will be available a bit earlier for those who own the first year’s season pass.
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
Building off of The Division’s last season update, which included a new PVE mode and other progression options, the looter shooter set in post-apocalyptic America is expected to get two more updates this year. Season 10 is just around the corner with quality of life updates and new difficulty modes for the Countdown mode, while season 11 is expected to continue the main story, with returning characters from earlier seasons. The studio is also working on Year 5 of the Division, so the game’s not done yet!
Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland
Right. Let’s not get into what’s weird about reserving the term “Heartland” for middle America, which is the location of the new free-to-play, “survival action shooter” Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland. Fans of the Tom Clancy’s series more broadly will recognise Red Storm Entertainment, the studio which worked on a number of classic Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon games over the years. This time the studio is expanding the world of The Division with a new environment and events that connect directly into the cluster-fuck of a situation the world finds itself in this series. You can register now to get into an early playtest.
Tom Clancy’s The Division Resurgence
If you think this is repetitive, wait ‘till we get to the assassin stuff. Tom Clancy’s The Division Resurgence is an upcoming mobile game set in, yup, you guessed it, The Division franchise. It promises a new plot, different factions, and a closed beta test is coming this autumn, where you can test drive the PVP features with a return to the infamous Dark Zone for all your griefing needs. Sign-ups for the closed beta are now available.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Mobile
You thought we were done with shooters based on the works of a hyper-nationalist, right-wing conservative author? Nope! Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Mobile emerged from closed alpha tests to show off gameplay that’ll look wildly familiar if you’re like me and have played the shit out of Siege. Three classic maps from the main game were shown off ahead of the upcoming closed beta which launches on September 12. You can pre-register on the Google Play store if your phone of choice is on team green. I might actually check this one out.
Netflix partnership
Netflix isn’t just the home of transphobic has-been comedians, it will also host three exclusive upcoming titles from existing Ubisoft franchises on the streaming service. VP of Netflix’s gaming initiative Mike Verdu revealed that Valiant Hearts 2 will arrive in January of next year, and another Mighty Quest, which will be expected the same year. A new Assassin’s Creed game and TV show is also expected, though details were super sparse on that one, aside from the games being ad-free with no in-app purchases.
Mythic Quest Season 3
In a pre-recorded video featuring Rob McElhenney of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the actor summed up what has been one of the more interesting AppleTV productions, Mythic Quest. In short, it’s about how horrible the video game and tech industry is. Hilarious. A trailer for season three poked fun at a number of common elements of tech and gaming, including bizarre design choices, errant philosophies that influence the design of workspaces, and, yup, the metaverse.
Ubisoft+ free trial
If you’ve been curious about Ubisoft’s version of Game Pass on PC and streaming platforms, where you can access the entire Assassin’s Creed saga and many of its other games, you can jump into a free trial that runs from now until October 10.
Trackmania
The slick-looking racer Trackmania is expected to hit consoles and streaming platforms early next year. The title showed off a fun-looking trailer with some groovy music. The racer will feature cross-platform play across PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Stadia, and even Luna. Augustin De Vita, the game’s producer, also revealed that the game will be free-to-play with no microtransactions, cause ya know, that’s a feature studios feel pressured to show off. There will be two premium tiers however that you can buy into. The game will see a seasonal update every three months, with events that’ll pit you against other racers online. You can also play solo if you want.
Rocksmith+
If you’re looking to learn guitar, Rocksmith+ got a quick trailer that showed off the various features of the service. Live now, the game promises thousands of songs to learn, with options to adjust the difficulty and learn at your own pace. While the visualisations of guitar tablature sure look neat, not even the slickest of services will help you if you’re not practicing regularly. Like, every day probably. Until your fingers bleed. Trust me.
Just Dance
Either I took some drugs I didn’t realise, or Just Dance’s new trailer looks wildly trippy. The dance game’s spot during the showcase focused on its new UI, new characters, and a wide selection of hit, dance — ready songs, and its online multi…player…dancer? Well, whatever the right term is, you can dance remotely-together with private groups of six people at a time.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
I mean, let’s be honest. You probably just skipped to this, right? During an entirely Assassin’s Creed-focused showcase at the end of Ubisoft Forward, at least one of the leaks was fully confirmed with Assassin’s Creed Mirage. With the return of Basim Ibn Ishaq from Valhalla, the first game in the series in two years will take players to 9th-century Bagdhad, where you’ll be spilling a lot of blood on a lot of sand. Though artwork for this game slipped out last month, we were treated to some new information, such as the casting of Shohreh Aghdashloo. She sounds amazing cursing folks out in The Expanse and will bring the character of Roshan to life, who will serve as a mentor for Basim.
Assassin’s Creed Documentary
With a series that’s been around for so long (15 years, in fact), it’s easy to forget about the development of the many Assassin’s Creed gameplay features that are just standard these days, even in other open world games. During the Assassin’s Creed showcase, clips from a documentary exploring the evolution of the franchise were shown off. So, if you’re like me and appreciate retrospective dives of famous games, you can check out the 11-minute doc here.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: The Last Chapter
Though a touch light on the details, Ubisoft showed off how Valhalla will finally end. The Last Chapter will wrap Eivor’s story, though from the looks of things, it might not be as epic in scale as the previous DLC drops. It’s expected later this year, bringing the two-year journey of Assassin’s Creed’s take on Norse history and mythology to an end.
Assassin’s Creed Codenamed Jade
A new mobile game will take Assassin’s Creed players to China in 215 BCE with Codename Jade. You can parkour all over the Great Wall with a character of your own design, a first for the series, as VP and brand executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté stated. There ain’t a whole lot more than that. The trailer showed off some of the cool environments as the camera flew in close behind the series’ signature hawk, so there’ll likely be more to come.
The Assassin’s Creed Netflix show
After the brisk introduction of Codename Jade, the Assassin’s Creed showcase dished on a few sparse details about the upcoming Netflix show. We saw no trailer or even key art, but the show is being co-produced with Netflix and Ubisoft. Jeb Stuart, screenwriter of Die Hard, among many other action films and Netflix’s own Vikings: Valhalla, will serve as showrunner.
Even more Assassin’s Creed stuff
If you were interested in more than just a Netflix show and new games, Ubisoft also showed off some slick Assassin’s Creed merch and connected media, including the sights and sounds of the Assassin’s Creed Symphonic Adventure live concert. An artbook exploring the history of the series, a cool figurine for Amunet, a friggin podcast with Echoes of History, a novel, and a webtoon sequel to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. That actually sounds kinda cool.
Assassin’s Creed Codename Red
We got another codename and some art for Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, a highly anticipated trip to feudal Japan, where you’ll play out a “very powerful shinobi fantasy.” Billed as the “next premium flagship title” and the future of the series, Ubisoft Quebec (Assassin’s Creed Odyssey) is behind the game.
Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe
Also described as another flagship title, but this time out of Ubisoft Montreal, Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe. Apparently the trailer is packed with secrets, which is good because details were even more sparse on this one. From the looks of things, and the name Hexe, there’s probably something with witches which…you know, sign me up.
Assassin’s Creed Infinity
There’s been a lot of speculation about what Assassin’s Creed Infinity even is, and now we know that it’s…well, a hub for all other Assassin’s Creed games? There’s not much more beyond this being some kind of one-stop place for all your AC desires. As Kotaku Staff Writer Levi Winslow speculates, perhaps it’ll be something akin to Halo: The Master Chief Collection, but maybe more future-forward as it will apparently be the home for future games in the series as well.
And those were all the hits from this year’s Ubisoft Forward. There’s kind of a nice mix of everything here, but as expected, an extraordinary amount of Assassin’s Creed fun was shared, even if the details were a little sparse on some of the more distant projects on the horizon.
Leave a Reply