We'll be covering the Ubisoft Forward live when it drops later today. It's bound to be a packed showcase, with a few games definitely confirmed to feature, from the newly revealed Star Wars Outlaws and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Assassin's Creed Mirage.
You can watch the Ubisoft Forward 2023 live on YouTube and Twitch, with the latter offering Twitch Drop rewards for multiple games within the Ubisoft library, including Riders Republic, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
What time is Ubisoft Forward?
Today's Ubisoft Forward airs at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 6PM BST / 7PM CET.
We don't know what the Ubisoft Forward length will be, but there is a pre-show that starts at 9.45AM PT / 12.45PM ET / 5.45PM BST / 6.45PM CET, and Ubisoft says you should "stick around after the show for even more surprises".
To kick things off today, you've got me Sam Loveridge here to run down everything we should see in today's Ubisoft Forward, from the games we know we're seeing to potential wildcards / wild personal hopes. *whisper it* Beyond Good and Evil 2. Hey look, a girl can dream can't she?
Let's start with the hottest new reveal - Star Wars Outlaws. It dropped last night as part of the Xbox Games Showcase, after being initially announced as just 'an open world Star Wars game from Ubisoft and Massive' back in January 2021.
Now we know it's called Star Wars Outlaws, and this project from Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft, and Lucasfilm Games will star Kay Vess, a 'clever scoundrel in the galactic underworld'.
She accompanied by certified 'lil' guy' Nix and a BX-commando droid who wears a trench coat.
Definitely sounds like Star Wars Outlaws will offer a heist game Han Solo would be proud of when it launches in 2024. Thankfully, we're also getting a "gameplay walkthrough reveal" at today's Ubisoft Forward, so we should see a lot more of this brand new upcoming Star Wars game.
Interestingly, it's being called the "first-ever open-world Star Wars game", which sounds like quite the departure from other Star Wars games we've had to date, including the most recent Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which actually takes place over a series of hub areas rather than a big open world. How exactly an open-world Star Wars game would work when there will inevitably be planet-hopping involved is a question I'd love to see answered today.
Can we just pause to appreciate Nix though. We're so happy on team GR+ that Star Wars Outlaws is continuing a rich tradition of lil' guys after we all fell hard for the likes of Turgle, Boglings, Skoova, and many more of the creatures Cal and BD-1 encounter along their journey in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
Ubisoft has also confirmed that Assassin's Creed Mirage will feature at today's Forward. The next entry in the series just got an October 12 release date at the recent PlayStation Showcase back on May 24, with the gameplay shown doing a brilliant Assassin's Creed 2 impression.
I'm so excited about this smaller, more focused game, especially after spending almost 200 hours in Assassin's Creed Valhalla and its various DLCs. It's a return to stealth-action and more narrative driven all set within a single city - Baghdad. Apparently citizens will react to your every move, so you bet I'm going to be making parkour hell for the citizens.
It stars Basim and is set a few decades before he appears in Assassin's Creed Valhalla so let's call it an origins story of sorts - but also for the series a little with this game.
"There's a bit of every Assassin's Creed game in Mirage, and players can look forward to going back to the roots [of the series] while experiencing a modern take on gameplay and iconic features of the early games," says Ubisoft Bordeaux.
Sorry folks, I took a little break for lunch and forgot to tell you. How rude of me.
Now, the other game that's going to get some headliner action is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. This game was originally announced back in 2021, and was initially scheduled to drop in 2022, before moving into 2023, and subsequently getting delayed to 2024 to add extra polish.
Weirdly, we've not really seen much of the game since June 2021 though, when the game's first look trailer debuted - which you can watch above.
What we do know is that Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will be a standalone story in an area of Pandora that we've not seen in the movies to date. It takes place during The Way of Water's time skip, so a little after the movie starts but before the one-year time cut.
I just can't wait to see some gameplay! Recently some screenshots allegedly got leaked, which showed off some combat, including bows and what looks like hunting. But also, it looks to be first-person perspective, which Ubisoft hasn't actually confirmed yet.
From what we've seen so far, it could well be a really stunning game - as you'd hope from what we know of Pandora from the movies.
Interestingly, another game Ubisoft has said we're seeing more of today is Assassin's Creed Jade. Now, rather than a console experience, Codename Jade is being developed solely for mobile platforms.
It's said to offer a seamless touch control experience and offering up an open world for people to play in. For this one, we're going to Ancient China, and we'll be able to parkour on the Great Wall as we sneak through the cities and discover 'secret locations'. Genuinely looks pretty darn cool from the original announcement trailer.
It's particularly interesting as it's just one of many upcoming Assassin's Creed games that got teased at the same event. Codename Jade popped up alongside the likes of Assassin's Creed Hexe - a seemingly Blair Witch-esque title - and the Japanese-set Assassin's Creed Red.
Ubisoft hasn't said anything about whether these two other titles will appear at today's Ubisoft Forward, or anything about the hub-like Assassin's Creed Infinity either.
However, there is another Assassin's Creed game in the runnings to get shown off today. Assassin's Creed Nexus VR is an upcoming experience for Meta Quest Pro, Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3, currently sporting a 2023 release window.
According to Ubisoft, we're getting the 'full reveal' today. All we know about it so far is that it's an "all-new Assassin's Creed game built exclusively for VR", or that was until Assassin's Creed fans cracked some cryptic teases laid about by Ubisoft.
According to those teases, we should expect Nexus to start Assassin's Creed 3's Connor, Ezio from Assassin's Creed 2, Brothehood and Revelations, alongside Kassandra from Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Now if it also wants to come to PSVR2 I won't be mad about it.
Pivoting away from Assassin's Creed for now, there's another upcoming Ubisoft game due to get a showing today that only just got announced. That's Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
Set in a mythological Persian world, it's a side-scrolling adventure where you'll need to use your platforming skills and Time Powers alongside more traditional combat to "unravel the mysteries of Mount Qaf".
