With the Assassin’s Creed Mirage release date happening a whole week earlier than Ubisoft had originally said, we now have one fewer week to wait. In mid-August, Ubisoft dropped the surprise news that not only had the game gone gold, but the release date was now a week earlier. In a world where we’re more used to release date delays than advancements, this is brilliant news for fans of the series, and anyone else with an eye on one of the year’s most highly-anticipated upcoming games.
As well as having a solid handle on the release date, we’ve also seen a fair bit from the game, and know quite a lot about it. For example, the game’s story and setting have been extensively revealed and detailed, seen some extended in-game action for Mirage, learned about the in-game historical codex, and know roughly how long it’ll take to play/ All in, we’re swimming in pretty solid levels of information – though nothing spoilery, crucially.
The most important thing to know, however (after the release date, of course) is that Mirage is bringing the behemoth series back to its stealthy roots. As had long been mooted before the game’s reveal and formal announcement, we now know that this game is absolutely aiming to evoke the style and play of those early games in the series. What this means in a more practical sense is action that’s got an emphasis on true stealth and assassinations, social stealth (think crowds and benches), skills and abilities that follow the game’s story, and less of a focus on all-out combat.
As a brief overview, Assassin’s Creed Mirage stars Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s Basim as its central protagonist and takes place in 9th-century Baghdad. It’s a game with a single-city setting and looks set to be a return to form in terms of what the earlier Assassin’s Creed games used to offer and be focused on. Here’s everything we know about Assassin’s Creed Mirage so far, including a look at the map size, and gameplay details.
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 5, 2023What can I play it on? PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PCWho is making it? Ubisoft – specifically Ubisoft Bordeaux
Assassin’s Creed Mirage release date and platforms
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Assassin’s Creed Mirage will now release on October 5, 2023.
Previously going to be released on October 12, 2023, the Assassin’s Creed Mirage release date was changed in mid-August. With the brief announcement of the game going gold, Ubisoft confirmed that the release would now come a week earlier, on October 5.
In terms of platforms, Ubisoft has confirmed that Mirage will be a cross-generation game. 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 news on a Siwtch release (though that might be pushing it) and also no news on a 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
The latest trailer that’s been revealed for AC Mirage is titled ‘The Round City of Baghdad’. It gives us our best look at the city yet and even reveals an enemy wielding a flamethrower. We see Basim using the rooftops to execute stealth kills and some examples of how social stealth is returning to the series in a big way. Check it out below:
The ‘Master Assassin’ trailer details Basim’s story, specifically, where he will start off. It seems we’ll be dropped in 12 years before the start of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Customization and leveling are also touched on. Watch it below:
Once you’ve got your fill of the video above, 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
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is set in Baghdad 12 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.”
Mirage’s story begins follows Basim from when he was a young thief living on the streets, to an apprentice in the Brotherhood, and onwards to being a master assassin. Just how much we’ll see of Valhalla’s cast of characters remains to be seen, but there’s certainly potential for certain characters to make an appearance.
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 map size
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
One aspect of Assassin’s Creed Mirage that has been a little bit murky since the game was revealed is the question of how big its map is. Well, we finally have an answer, and that’s that Mirage’s map will be a similar size to the Paris map in Assassin’s Creed Unity. This was revealed in an Easy Allies video, in which Michael Huber notes that he spoke to a Ubisoft spokesperson regarding Mirage’s map size. Apparently it’s also comparable to Constantinople.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage news
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
The Assassin’s Creed Mirage release date is brought forward by a full week
On August 14, Ubisoft revealed that the game had not only gone gold, but it was bringing the Assassin’s Creed Mirage release date forward by a full week, to October 5. A surprise but a most-welcome announcement.
Microtransactions looks to be revealed in leaked screenshot
In early August, our sister site GamesRadar+ covered what seemed to be a picture of an Assassin’s Creed Mirage window or screen displaying outfit packs to acquire. This is a possible indication of microtransactions being present once again in the latest Assassin’s Creed game. It’s not a huge surprise as the in-game purchases have appeared in the last major releases in the series – and proved very popular with players. To be clear though, this is not certain and has not been confirmed by Ubisoft.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage will take about 25-30 hours to fully complete
It has been close to common knowledge that Mirage would offer a more streamlined experience compared to its immediate RPG-style predecessors in the series, but now we have confirmation of that in terms of hours. Fabian Salomon, lead producer on Mirage confirmed recently that the timings appear to be around 20 hours if you mainline the story and around 30 hours if you do every mission. This will be music to some fans’ ears given Odyssey and Valhalla could easily have 200-odd hours sunk into them to do everything.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage will get a haptic vest that can enable you to feel combat
In a rather unexpected move, to say the least, the first piece of licensed Mirage ‘hardware’ has been revealed in the form of a haptic suit. As reported by our sister site PCGamer, this suit is being made by the brand Owo, which will set you back about $500 and will let you feel all the stabs, beatings, and parkour impacts that Basim will feel in game.
There are no plans for any Assassin’s Creed Mirage DLC “for now”
Chatting to fans in a recent Reddit AMA, and spotted by VGC, the game’s creative director Stéphane Boudon said that “For now, Mirage has no plan for DLC or extensive post-launch.”
Assassin’s Creed Mirage will feature a thorough codex to teach you the history of Baghdad
Echoing – but not following exactly the same suit – as previous Assassin’s Creed games, Mirage will offer players a means to swot up and take a deep dive into the history of the game’s setting, Baghdad. In the form of a codex, players will be able to learn about everything from religion and beliefs to daily life and science of 9th century Baghdad, absorbing a whole heap of information that’s been put together by experts and from museum collections.
Progression and customization are tied to the story
During the recent ‘Master Assassin’ trailer, it’s revealed that progression is entirely tied to the story, ditching the XP-based system from the last few games. Basim will receive new gear as you progress, and can then be customized with dyes, instead of being bought. As you complete missions, new tools will become available too, while Skill Points will allow you to customize Basim even further.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage to get a full Arabic dub
In what’s a first for the series in all its years, Mirage will be the first game to ship with full Arabic localisation. As reported by our sister site GamesRadar+ at the end of May, while the news of the dub itself was quietly announced previously, it was only recently confirmed that Middle East film and TV star Eyad Nassar will start in the Arabic dub – something rightly bringing the localisation back to the headlines.
That’s all we know about Assassin’s Creed Mirage so far. For a look at other games that are still on their way this year, check out our Upcoming Games 2023 page.
