Ubisoft has been pushing its storied Assassin’s Creed franchise quite hard in recent years but one of its upcoming projects seems to be struggling, according to a new report.
Assassin’s Creed Multiplayer game in trouble
The Assassin’s Creed franchise hasn’t exactly been known for its PvP multiplayer modes. While some of the earlier games in the series offered the online cat-and-mouse assassin experience that was relatively well-liked, it always played second fiddle to the single player portions of the games and died off after its final appearance in 2013’s Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. The mode is even being left out of the imminent Black Flag remake, which is due out on July 9.
It’s part of Ubisoft’s new Assassin’s Creed initiative to create new types of Assassin’s Creed games and take the franchise in bold new directions. This makes a lot of sense considering the series has caught a lot of flak in the past from fans for remaining too formulaic; if Ubisoft is going to double down on cranking out more and more Assassin’s Creed games, offering different types of experiences within the universe is a smart idea. With this, Ubisoft revealed a new standalone multiplayer project in development known as “Project Invictus” in 2022 alongside a robust lineup of Assassin’s Creed games that included Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the darker Assassin’s Creed Hexe, and mobile RPG AC Jade.
Playtesters aren’t liking Assassin’s Creed invictus
Assassin’s Creed Invictus has entered an internal playtesting phase, and according to Assassin’s Creed content creator j0nathan, some of those who were invited to test out the game called the most recent April 30 playtest “awful.” He went on to say that reports have been so bad that he could easily see Invictus, which is thought to be aiming for a late 2026 release, getting hit with a major delay or even scrapped altogether.
Over the past year or so, leakers have compared Assassin’s Creed Invictus‘ gameplay to that of bubbly multiplayer platformer Fall Guys. Such a comparison seems strange initially, but when considering one of the hallmarks of Assassin’s Creed is its parkour, it’s easier to see why Ubisoft would take a multiplayer AC game in that direction. Such a direction, though, could potentially confuse or disappoint fans who have been hoping for more of a methodical cat-and-mouse experience the early AC games provided in their multiplayer modes that had players blending into groups of NPCs and stalking each other through bustling streets.
Ubisoft has been having some tough luck with new multiplayer games recently. Games like 2022’s Roller Champions and 2024’s very long-in-development Skull and Bones failed to survive. Even XDefiant, one of Ubisoft’s more promising Call of Duty-inspired multiplayer FPS outings didn’t last much more than a year. If these early playtest reports are accurate, Assassin’s Creed Invictus could be sharing a similar fate. Hopefully, the project can turn around and deliver an Assassin’s Creed multiplayer experience fans of the series will love, though if j0nathan’s intuition is correct, it may be a bit longer of a wait.
Assassin’s Creed Invictus is in development.
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