The Assassin’s Creed franchise will be making its return later this year with rumours circulating that the next instalment in the series will take players back in time to Ancient Egypt in the form of Assassin’s Creed: Empire. It looks like a screenshot for Empire may have just been leaked and has appeared on Reddit, showing a character standing in the entrance of what could be a tomb, and it definitely fits into the rumours that the game will be set in Egypt.
The image was actually posted on Reddit over a month ago but gained zero attention until now when it was reposted with the title “You now what this is?”. It’s unclear what the actual source of the image is, especially as the account which originally posted the image has since been deleted, and whoever posted it clearly wanted to gain some attention.
Although the screenshot is lacking in clarity, there a few details which look like they are from the Assassin’s Creed franchise. The character, who is standing in a stone doorway, has a shield on his back which appears to have the Assassin’s Creed insignia on it. Not only that, but there is also an icon which appears above the doorway and is similar to icons which have been used in previous Assassin’s Creed games.
There was also an image that was shared last year of what was said to be Assassin’s Creed: Empire. This latest leak matches the theme and setting of that image as well as the character models. The rumours have been circulating for nearly a year now, and so far they all point to the game being set in Egypt or the Middle East if true.
Following the launch of Watch Dogs 2, players uncovered a phone conversation between two NPCs which some believed hinted at Assassin’s Creed: Empire. The two characters are discussing about ensuring that a trailer for an upcoming game doesn’t get leaked, with one NPC keen to not repeat “what happened with Unity, Syndicate, Osiris?”
However, Ubisoft have gone on record and said that they won’t release an Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry game in 2017 if they’re not ready. Ubisoft’s vice president of editorial, Tommy Francois, said back in October, “We believe Alpha for these games needs to be one year before release. We’re trying to achieve that. That’s super f****** blunt, I don’t even know if I’m allowed to say this. This is the goal we’re going for: Alpha one year before, more quality, more polish.”
“So if this means biting the [bullet] and not having an Assassin’s game, or a Far Cry [in 2017], f*** it.”
We’ll have to wait until Ubisoft officially announce the next Assassin’s Creed game, which is likely to be at E3 2017 later this year. Until then, it’s a case of sitting tight and taking all the rumours with a pinch of salt, although we wouldn’t be surprised if there is some weight to these rumours.