The Assassin's Creed Mirage release date has been revealed, and it'll be coming out later this year. This is great news for fans of the series, especially those looking for a smaller and more traditional Assassin's Creed game.
The Assassin's Creed titles have left an indelible mark on the video game landscape, providing fans with years of stealth-based gameplay and historical intrigue. However, Assassin's Creed Mirage spells a return to the origins of the formula. As much as the open-world RPGs of Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Assassin's Creed Odyssey had to offer, they delivered very different experiences to the original Assassin's Creed, providing a broader, but perhaps more diluted, experience.
Assassin's Creed Mirage aims to remedy this, by focusing on core stealth elements, as well as strategy and creative traversal - and already looks like a candidate to make an attack on the top of the internet's best Assassin's Creed game lists. Here's everything we know about the game so far.
Assassin's Creed Mirage: cut to the chase
- What is it? Assassin's Creed stealth-action game set in Ninth-Century Baghdad
- When can I play it? October 12, 2023
- What can I play it on? PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC
- Who is making it? Ubisoft - specifically Ubisoft Bordeaux
Assassin's Creed Mirage release date and platforms
Assassin's Creed Mirage will release on October 12, 2023.
In terms of platforms, Ubisoft has confirmed that Mirage will be a cross-generation release. As such, expect to see it on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC, and cloud streaming service Amazon Luna. There's, unfortunately, no free upgrade between generations, but it's also cheaper than recent big releases, launching for $49.99 / £44.99 RRP.
Assassin's Creed Mirage trailers
With this summer's Ubisoft Forward live 2023 event having been and gone, we now have much clearer visions of both Basim's story, and the in-game action we'll be playing with. As a result, we've actually got two new trailers for our viewing pleasure.
The first, and arguably most important, and gripping, trailer is a walkthrough of in-game footage and action from the game - catch that below.
Then, once you've got your fill of the action itself, you can enjoy the clearest look into Basim's story that we've had so far. We knew he would go from street thief to master assassin, but this trailer divulges more of his journey - and some key moments in it.
But if you're looking for even more, then you're in luck! Along with the two headline trailers above, Ubisoft also releases a video with developer commentary breaking down the in-game action. you can check that out below.
Beyond those, however, and looking a bit further back for context, we had an Assassin's Creed Mirage trailer from earlier this year, during the May 2023 PlayStation Showcase that showed off protagonist Basim's infiltration of Ninth Century Baghdad.
In this trailer, we saw a first proper look at the game's return to the series' fundamentals, placing an emphasis on stealth and traversal over combat – a change of pace that many welcome. Basim sneaks through crowds, climbs rooftops, and deftly assassinates guards in this gorgeous and slick gameplay reveal trailer.
If you're looking to complete the set, then there's one other trailer for Assassin's Creed Mirage that has been revealed, which you can check out on Ubisoft's official YouTube channel.
Assassin's Creed Mirage story and setting
Assassin's Creed Mirage is set in Baghdad 20 years before Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Basim Ibn Ishaq, who was introduced in Valhalla, takes center stage. According to reports, Mirage began as a Valhalla spin-off before escalating into its own fully-fledged entry.
Basim is part of the first Assassin Brotherhood, and Mirage takes us on one of his earlier adventures. Here, he's being taught by Roshan, a Persian assassin portrayed by Shohreh Aghdashloo. Rather than the open-world RPG gameplay of more recent years, Assassin's Creed Mirage focuses on stealth and parkour once again.
As such, expect a smaller experience overall, likely around 15 to 20 hours. When asked about the game's length in an IGN interview, executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté said, "Not everything has to be a 150 hour RPG, right?”, confirming:
“It is a smaller Assassin's Creed project. This was conceived [and] built to celebrate the 15th anniversary. So that's why we're using our modern Valhalla engine to build a smaller game that pays tribute to our original game by focusing more on stealth, on close-quarter combat, on parkour, and a denser city that goes back to our roots in the Middle East, with Baghdad as the centerpiece.”
Assassin's Creed Mirage gameplay
Ubisoft has confirmed that Baghdad is the only city in the game, split into four zones, though we're also visiting Alamut. Each one contains a boss ready to be thwarted, but it's unclear how that unfolds in-game. What we do know, according to narrative director Sarah Beaulieu, is that this story will include various historical figures.
As for how you’ll navigate Baghdad, lead producer on Assassin Creed Mirage Fabian Salomon said in an interview with Arab Hardware (via PCGamesN) that Mirage’s parkour will take some inspiration from the mechanics in Assassin’s Creed Unity:
“We are seriously trying to reach this level with Mirage, and since Baghdad is dense as I mentioned, we want the players to enjoy their time in the city through parkour, which was and still is one of the important pillars that we depended on in the style of playing with Assassin's Creed Mirage”.
In fact, as part of going back to the series’ roots, Salomon said Mirage will take inspiration from other early titles. This includes the return of Assassination Contracts from Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood. He does also, however, mention “new and different opportunities to interact with the environment in Baghdad”, including “new mechanics” in hiding and in assassination among crowds.
What we've seen so far certainly confirms this. The gameplay reveal shown earlier this summer saw Basim stalking a target, using tools and traps to dispatch enemies. He used a new multi-assassination ability as well, which allowed him to quickly warp between marked targets, killing them quickly.
Assassin's Creed Mirage news
Mirage gets two new trailers during Ubisoft Forward 2023
Arguably the most important of the two trailers we got at Ubisoft Forward 2023 was the one that focused on how we will play as Basim, and his in-game action. The trailer gave us an incredibly clear look at Basim, his toolset, the parkour, and his stealth and assassination mechanics. The brilliant news here is that it all looks very reminiscent of the early Assassin's Creed games and really does appear to confirm that 'return to roots' that has been heavily applied to the game for a while.
We also got our first proper look at how Basim's story plays out in the game. We knew for a while that Basim's journey or arc would be from street thief to Master Assassin, but now we can see pivotal moments in that arc itself from the trailer, including the moment that Roshan rescues a young Basim from the blades of the authorities.
Fans helped shape Ubisoft's decision to create the "more intimate" Mirage
Speaking to GamesRadar as part of its Big in 2023: Assassin's Creed Mirage story (opens in a new tab), creative director Stéphane Boudon commented on how fan feedback helped build the starting point for Mirage's world design:
"Amongst our fans, we started hearing the desire for a character-driven story, focused on the core pillars of the first ACs in a more intimate scale. It resonates with us as well, as developers, and this was the starting point of the project."
