'Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation' Coming To Vita?

Things just keep getting better for owners of the PlayStation Vita, and Sony hasn’t even held their E3 press conference yet. According to leaked images and details online, the Vita is set to receive it’s own entry in the Assassin’s Creed series this October in the form of Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation.

And if you thought Assassin’s Creed 3 was breaking new ground for the series, you won’t believe what this has in store.

The details come from NeoGAF, where one user has gotten their hands on the newest issue of Game Informer, apparently filled with details on the as-yet-unannounced game. Images of the magazine have also been posted online, depicting the new Assassin Aveline, a female of both French and African-American parentage. Ubisoft Sofia is developing, but seems just as intent on dealing with serious issues as the Montreal studio.

Aveline will be mentored by Agate, an escaped slave leading the formation of an Assassin order in Louisiana. The blending of cultures isn’t just confined to the protagonist either, as the backdrop of the game is none other than The Big Easy, New Orleans circa 1765.

According to the details released, the time frame places Aveline in the fallout of the French and Indian War – a period of time strongly tied to the American Revolution. As a result, Aveline will apparently come into contact with Connor during the course of Liberation, although exactly how tightly the games will be interwoven isn’t clear. The leaded information seems to claim that Aveline’s experiences are completely unrelated to Desmond, and crafted by Abstergo for their own purposes.

If this report turns out to be true, then expect Ubisoft to make an official announcement at their already jam-packed E3 conference. As exciting as this news is, it also calls into question the previously rumored Vita release of Assassin’s Creed 3. Since Liberation is claimed to release on the same day as AC3, it seems unlikely that both games will be making their way to the handheld.

Of course, Ubisoft building a game specifically for the Vita, and rumored to include a multiplayer experience tailor-made for the device shows how committed they are to supporting it. So anything is possible. We await an official response from the developers, but with the company’s press conference just days away we won’t hold our breath.

If the reports are true, Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation will be released for the PS Vita on October 30, 2012.