Pulled Trailer Reveal’s ACIV: Black Flag’s Release Date

Really, though, I feel like I just beat Assassin’s Creed III…Well, I’m guessing I’m going to have to adjust to that sensation about this time every year as Ubisoft elevates their blockbuster series to annual status.

With a full-on reveal of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag scheduled for Monday, practically forever from now, you can always count on the internet to open its presents early.  Not completely our fault (this time).  The official trailer for Black Flag (accidentally?) made a brief stint when it was leaked onto YouTube.  I would link you to it but Ubisoft put up the blinders post haste.

Damage done, however, as we now have a release date pegged as well as the alias of our new assassinating buccaneer.  Starring a Mr. Edward Kenway — a “devil dressed as a man” who even has the infamous Blackbeard shivering his goddamn timbers — fans will first get their hands on Black Flag October 29th; likely the new target date for future installments.

What’s more is the fact Assassin’s Creed IV will be the first entry gracing next-gen consoles along with current hardware.  If it makes it in time for the PS4’s Fall ship, Black Flag will certainly be one hell of a high profile launch title.  Once again, see you on Monday with more details.

UPDATE: See the trailer here while you can!

Assassin’s Creed IV Rumor Promoted to Official

Following a marketing leak that revealed a poster for the game, Ubisoft shot an affirmation of Black Flag’s existence to IGN today along with this swanky art.

Ubisoft dumped the confirmation like a body into a canal and darted back into the shadows, whispering, “March 4th…”  Come on back Monday for a less vague peek at Black Flag.

High Seas Swashbuckling Revealed in Leaked Assassin’s Creed IV Poster?

The curious piece of supposed marketing you see above may be our first sneaking glimpse at the next installment of Assassin’s Creed.

Sent in to Kotaku by a daring reader, the poster, if legitimate, confirms the game’s title as Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and the artwork — which many are positing is by Todd McFarlane’s hand for no other reason than it just resembles his style — not-so-subtly suggests pirates of the “Yo-Ho” variety are a focal point of the story.  The marketing is alleged to start circulating stores by March 4th.

Ubisoft recently revealed that we’d see a sequel sometime before March 2014 and, unlike the chain of spin-offs featuring Ezio after ACII, would revolve around a brand new assassin instead of ACIII’s Conner (sorry, brother).  While its protagonist may be bucked from the spotlight, one would figure Assassin’s Creed III’s surprisingly fun naval warfare can find a more fitting home in the seemingly pirate populated ACIV.

More to ponder, it’s interesting to see Ubisoft pump out another numbered title so soon considering it was once promised a hard number wouldn’t be present unless the game in question significantly advanced the series’ concept.  How significant of an evolution can Black Flag make with an impending March announcement given that ACIII just hit shelves last October?

Who the hell are we kidding?  This is obviously an elaborate hoax perpetrated by Todd McFarlane.

2014’s Assassin’s Creed: Different Period, Dev, and Hero

Shocker: Ubisoft has more Assassin’s Creed planned.  Legitimate shocker: it’s ditching Conner, the Revolutionary setting, and has itself a completely different development team sculpting it.

Rather than branching off with ACIII’s freshly introduced assassin, Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, said we can anticipate both a brand new hero and different time period for the next installment, which will be “another major leap forward for the franchise.”

Under the tutelage of an unnamed Ubisoft creative team the sequel is expected out sometime before 2014, though it’s unclear whether it will remain within this console generation or roll out for the next-gen.  Until Sony and Microsoft’s Next Big Things step from out of the shadows, we’re going to have to sit pretty for an answer.

When Will the Prince of Persia Return? Not Soon, Says Ubisoft

Having gone without a single new entry since 2010’s The Forgotten Sands, many have wondered where the hell has the Prince been and just when the hell is he coming back?  If you consider yourself sort of a big fan, you might want to sit down for this one (don’t look shocked; I stand while I Tumble, as well).

“I think it is fair to say that, right now, Prince of Persia is being paused,” says Yannis Mallat, Ubisoft Montreal’s CEO speaking to IGN.  The Prince hasn’t been axed, no.  In fact, Mallat admits Ubisoft has paused several of its brand names that “suddenly popped up” again because one of their teams made it so.

It’s all a part of the process according to Yannis.  Franchises may come and go, but they’re never abandoned once they make it into the Ubisoft portfolio.  “We sometimes iterate on franchises,” explained Mallat, “And sometimes we give them time to breathe and time to grow, or time to rest.  Prince of Persia is as important as any other franchise for Ubisoft. As soon as we have something to show, we will.”

As far as historical piece/platformers go, I imagine Assassin’s Creed is filling the Prince’s void right and proper for Ubisoft at the moment.  For as different as the franchises may be from one another, though, even the Creed owes the Prince some credit given that the original AC started its life as an attempted Prince of Persia spin-off.  Hopefully Ubisoft can find a way to reiterate the Prince in the near future (humble opinion: take another gander at 2008’s woefully underrated entry for some ideas).

The Dissolution of THQ: New Publishers Pick Up the Fallen Company’s Assets

The battle was hard fought and long drawn out, but the once mighty publishing house that was THQ has succumbed to bankruptcy.

Despite last ditch efforts to keep themselves above the red line — like putting Naughty Dog co-founder, Jason Rubin, at the head of the company (though, how far could you really go with a man that openly found Saints Row embarrassing?) — THQ folded, with an auction held yesterday for prospective buyers looking to grow their own catalogs by acquiring the former publisher’s assortment of development studios and IP’s.

Bear in mind that the dust has yet to have settled, so most of these acquisitions won’t receive the stamp of approval/blood-signature until the U.S. bankruptcy  court has a say…That being said, the following is a list of notable transactions that took place yesterday:

• Crytek now owns the Homefront brand.  Crytek UK (Timesplitters as Free Radical) has been working on Homefront 2, so it’s a convenient buy.
• Koch Media purchased Saints Row developer, Volition, Inc., as well as publishing rights to the Metro series.  You may be more familiar with Koch’s subsidiary and publisher, Deep Silver (Call of Juarez, Dead Island).  Deep Silver has been tasked with overseeing all development and publishing duties surrounding both franchises with impending news on the way.
• Sega has scored RTS experts, Relic Entertainment (Company of Heroes, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War), beating out ZeniMax (Bethesda’s parent) for the studio.  The recently announced Company of Heroes 2 is still on track for release.
• Take-Two — parent to Rockstar and 2K Games — bought up the unrevealed shooter tentatively dubbed Evolve, developed by Turtle Rock Studios (best known for their work on Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead with Valve); Take-Two evidently outbid Turtle Rock for their own game.  In another big win, Take-Two negotiated outside of the auction for the WWE video game license, effectively ending THQ’s long established choke-hold on the property.
• Ubisoft is now set to publish Obsidian’s foul mouthed homage to the old school RPG, South Park: The Stick of Truth.  THQ Montreal was also bid on and bought; the studio’s staff will be dispersed among Ubisoft’s existing dev teams.

Among the assets not already sold off sits Vigil Games and their Darksiders property, just two games young into the franchise.  Apparently, both studio and game went without a single damn bid (yowtch).  Given Darksiders II considerable improvement over the original, and its positive critical reception, I don’t expect the Horsemen to stay homeless for long.

Also, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or drunken snapshots of hyper-extended middle fingers on Instagram, we’re becoming more and more aware that THQ has left a lot of unemployed people in its wake.  My heart goes out to those that have to put up with such shit luck of the draw — and thank you for all you’ve done for this industry.  I wish you the best, folks.

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Survey: Co-op and a New Game Next Year?

Once upon a time ago, Ubisoft revealed that after Assassin’s Creed III hit shelves and wowed the public, the franchise would fall into dormancy between installments in order to break its annual release streak and relieve gamers of any creeping IP fatigue that may have started to set in their joints.

I’m going to go ahead and call bullshit on that one thanks to an Ubisoft survey The Gaming Liberty kindly shared on their site which asks participants several very telling questions which point to another installment of Creed hitting our consoles in the very near future.

Some of the more prominent questions measure how accepting survey takers would be to seeing the next game return to the Frontier (with ACIII’s protagonist Conner front and center) and whether or not they would want current-day Assassin Desmond Miles make the cut for another entry despite Ubisoft’s claims that his story has come to an end.  But the utmost percolating questions gauge how much fans would want their friends to be able to jump into their game “any time during the solo mode” and how likely it was for participants to want to purchase a new Assassin’s Creed sequel “if it was to become available next year.”  Welp, you heard it here first: Co-op Assassin’s Creed confirmed for 2013!

Okay, I’m jumping the gun, but you must admit those’re some goddamn mighty intriguing questions for Ubisoft to be asking.  As a gamer that lacks even a single competitive cell in my body, a co-op option is one of my top requests for any game featuring multiplayer.  I imagine (and hope) Ubisoft would be taking several cues from Rockstar if they implemented open world co-op since Red Dead Redemption is one of this generation’s gleaming examples of the feature.  If this one comes to pass, we’ll keep you posted.

Assassin’s Creed III Concept Art

My, such lovely art for an astounding looking game.  Not too much longer now and we’ll get to live out some of the most absolutely pivotal years in American history.  And, hey, bonus, you’ll like a total badass all the while.