The Assassin’s Creed series may soon finally see a game set in Japan, according to a recent fan discovery.
Ubisoft forum user Cornik22 believes he has spotted a hint left by the game’s developers as far back as 2013, which reveals the location both this year’s instalment (confirmed as AC: Victory, which will be set in Victorian London) and next year’s title.
An image that made its way into the official guide and art books for both Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and AC: Unity certainly appears to be fairly innocuous at first, but may actually be a teaser for the series’ locales.
The artwork in question features the foyer of the Abstergo Entertainment building from the present-day sections of the series. A giant glass screen, featured behind the reception area’s front desk, contains fragments of six different images, all of which appear to depict iconic landmarks from locations visited in the Assassin’s Creed series.
Going through them, the Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence appeared in Assassin’s Creed 2; the tropical island appeared in Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag; Notre Dame Cathedral appeared in Assassin’s Creed: Unity; and Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster will appear in this year’s release, Assassin’s Creed Victory.
Of the remaining two images, one appears to be the front of a church, which may be a reference to the first game in the series. What’s really interesting, however, is the final one, which depicts what appears to be a Japanese temple of some kind – possibly Sensoji Temple in Tokyo – surrounded by houses.
By piecing all of the images together, and taking into consideration the fact that the art books were released prior to the confirmation of both Unity and Victory’s location, all the signs seem to point to Assassin’s Creed heading to Japan – be it in 2016 or further down the line.
Back in 2012, Assassin’s Creed 3 creative director told Total Xbox that an AC title set in Feudal Japan would be “boring” and one of the “worst” settings for the franchise, despite it being one of the most requested scenarios by fans of the series. However, he would later soften his stance somewhat after leaving Assassin’s Creed to direct Far Cry 4.
There certainly seems to be a shift in the mindset of the top brass at Ubisoft, with executive Jade Raymond telling Adweek late last year that an Assassin’s Creed game set in Feudal Japan would be a “cool idea”.
So, over to you, dear readers. Do the images check out? Would you like to see an epic battle of Ninjas versus the Assassins, or is the idea simply a little too predictable? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
