Assassin’s Creed Mirage: everything we know so far

Assassin’s Creed Mirage looks set to be a very different beast to its predecessor. Where Valhalla pushed forward with the action-RPG leanings of the recent Assassin’s Creed games, Mirage will apparently be smaller, and more stealthy. It’ll also arrive in 2023, so not too long to wait until we can get our hands on it.

Starring Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Basim Ibn Ishaq, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage will take us to Baghdad, 20 years before the events of Valhalla, and will take the decades-spanning series back to its roots. This means a more self-contained play area, and a renewed focus on assassinations and stealth mechanics. From what we’ve seen, it looks to have more in common with the very first game than any released in the last few years.

This is what many Assassin’s Creed fans have been waiting for, given just how much the series changed after Origins released as a full-blown RPG. It remains to be seen whether Mirage will indeed be like classic Creed, but things do look promising so far. Here’s everything we know about Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage: cut to the chase

• What is it? Assassin’s Creed game set in Baghdad 
• When can I play it? 2023, exact date TBC
• What can I play it on? PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC

Assassin’s Creed Mirage: trailers

Announcement trailer
We got our first official look at Assassin’s Creed Mirage during the Ubisoft Forward digital showcase in September 2022. While there’s no gameplay footage included, this provided a cinematic look at Mirage’s story, which you can check out in full below:

Assassin’s Creed Mirage: release date and platforms

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is coming in 2023, though we don’t have a specific release date just yet. Ubisoft confirmed the game’s existence and release window following a ton of leaks around the upcoming title.

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 / £39.99 RRP.

Recently, a report by Insider Gaming (opens in new tab) claimed that Assassin’s Creed Mirage is eyeing an August 2023 release date. This is apparently due to the game having been delayed twice internally. There has been no official conformation of this from Ubisoft, however, so for now it’s just classed as a rumor.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage: gameplay and setting

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is taking the series back to basics: 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.”

While we’ve yet to see 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 progression. 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 II 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. 

Assassin’s Creed Mirage: news and rumors

Valhalla’s final DLC features a Mirage crossover
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s final update features a new quest called ‘Shared History.’ In it, Eivor and Mirage protatgonist Basim’s mentor Roshan team up. This quest helps set up some of the charcaters and events that are coming in Mirage.

It’s not Adults Only
Following the announcement of Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, some store pages showed the game with an Adults Only rating due to the inclusion of “real gambling” which would mean the “player can gamble, including betting or wagering real cash or currency”.

That was, however, Ubisoft has confirmed, a mistake. In fact, the game is still awaiting a rating. In a statement to Eurogamer, Ubisoft said:

“Following the announcement of Assassin’s Creed Mirage during Ubisoft Forward, some store pages mistakenly displayed the game for pre-orders with an Adults Only ESRB rating. While Assassin’s Creed Mirage is still pending rating, Ubisoft wants to reassure players that no real gambling or lootboxes are present in the game.”

Assassin’s Creed Mirage formally unveiled
We got our first look at Assassin’s Creed Mirage during the September 2022 Ubisoft Forward showcase. 

Featuring a “very special Assassin’s Creed showcase”, Ubisoft confirmed many previously rumored details like the Baghdad setting, Basim returning as the protagonist, and how it takes us back to the series’ roots through stealth and parkour gameplay. But that wasn’t all for fans, we soon discovered Assassin’s Creed Mirage is just one of three newly revealed games in the series. 

Alongside news on the final Assassin’s Creed Valhalla DLC, this also revealed two new projects within Assassin’s Creed Infinity. Currently codenamed Red and Hexe, Red takes us to feudal Japan in a new open-world RPG, casting us as a shinobi. Meanwhile, Hexe appears to be focused more on the 16th century witch hunts, according to recent leaks from Try Hard Games.

• The best Assassin’s Creed games: ranking the historical series