Assassin's Creed Ragnarok is the rumored next entry in the long-running Ubisoft franchise and is set to take place during the Viking era. There's a lot of rumors surrounding the title, with it reportedly bringing back co-op, having a "berserker" mode, and being centered on either a male or female protagonist named Jora. How many of the various AC: Ragnarok rumors prove to be true remains to be seen, but this overabundance of rumors seems to suggest that it's the real deal.
Of course, beyond confirmation of its existence, one thing many fans of the franchise is wondering is when Assassin's Creed Ragnarok's release date will be. Considering the title hasn't even been remotely mentioned by Ubisoft, it may be some way off, but recent news on the Ubisoft front may have shed some light on a more narrowed release window.
Ubisoft Confirms 5 Triple-A Games by March 2021
Namely, it has recently been revealed that Ubisoft plans to release 5 Triple-A games by March 2021, with 3 of those set to release by December 2020. It seems highly likely that Watch Dogs Legion, Rainbow Six Quarantine, and Gods and Monsters—3 of the games previously delayed by Ubisoft—will somehow fall into this lineup, but there's no reason to suggest that these are the next 3 titles. While their titles have been in the public domain for some time, their release dates being delayed has a ton of variables that cannot be neatly accounted for.
The other two games, an all but officially confirmed Far Cry 6 and Assassin's Creed Ragnarok, fill in these other two spots quite nicely, but how do they fit into this release schedule?
Far Cry 6 Leak and Release Date Patterns
It's worth mentioning that, had Far Cry 6 not been leaked alongside these announcements, its very existence wouldn't even be known about (just heavily speculated upon). This likely means it's not as far in development as others, likely casting it in the post-December 2020 release window, and the recent release pattern of Far Cry games supports this.
Both Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4 released in November of their perspective years, but since then, there's been a transition in the gaming release world where spring dates are almost as common as fall release dates. As such, Far Cry Primal, Far Cry 5, and Far Cry New Dawn (the last three entries of the franchise) have all released in the spring, with two of those being in February and one in March.
As such, it seems relatively safe to say that Far Cry 6's release date is roughly a year from now, releasing sometime in February 2021 and filling in one of the two post-2020 dates.
Watch Dogs Legion, Rainbow Six Quarantine, and Gods and Monsters
Prior to their delays, Gods and Monsters was set to release on February 25, 2019, Watch Dogs: Legion on March 6, 2019, and Rainbow Six: Quarantine later on an undetermined date. Nailing them down isn't as easy though. Despite being a brand new IP, a threequel in a smaller franchise, and the latest entry in a long-running series, they all share one thing in common: unpredictable release dates. However, their former release dates do speak volumes.
Given that Watch Dogs and Gods and Monsters were set to release early this year, they are likely the closest done in development. As such, it seems safe to say that these two games would most likely still release this year, but that cannot be said about Rainbow Six: Quarantine. The fact that it hadn't been given a release date yet means that it can be pushed however long as required without being detrimental to its fanbase; with Watch Dogs Legion, some may expect to play as random NPCs sooner rather than later.
In other words, Rainbow Six: Quarantine is the safest game to delay into the beginning of early 2020, as there had been few, if any, expectations regarding its release. Beginning 2021 with Rainbow Six: Quarantine and Far Cry 6 would be a good start, especially if Watch Dogs Legion, Gods and Monsters, and the third-game slotted for late 2020, Assassin's Creed Ragnarok, land the mark.
Assassin's Creed Ragnarok Release Date
All of this helps narrow down a finite release window of fall 2020 prior to December 2020 for Assassin's Creed Ragnarok. The fact that Ubisoft previously confirmed a 2020 Assassin's Creed Game and this new window of launches of company show that, with reasonable doubt, it is not affected by former delays. Assassin's Creed Ragnarok and its viking glory is still likely set for this time frame as a result, but it can be theoretically narrowed down even further.
While it's probably not as clean cut, it's not out of question that the delay for Watch Dogs and Gods and Monsters to be roughly 6 months. As such, pushing them back by this time span puts Gods and Monsters in August, Watch Dogs in September, and following pace, Assassin's Creed Ragnarok in October. This falls in line with the releases of Assassin's Creed Origins and Assassin's Creed Odyssey, as they both released in October as well. Of course, this is mere speculation at this time, but this hypothetical situation isn't entirely unrealistic.
Even if the dates were shuffled around some, it seems likely that Assassin's Creed Ragnarok would release prior to November 2020 as well (even before the aforementioned December deadline). Namely, there are rumors and suggestions that it will be a cross-gen title for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, with the consoles most likely coming out in November. Assassin's Creed Black Flag was a cross-gen title as well that released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 before coming to the PS4 and Xbox One just a month later, a release plan that was largely successful. It topped some sales charts that first week of release on PS3 and Xbox 360, continuing that trend as well with the PS4 and Xbox One release.
All in all, and barring any unforeseen influences like the possible coronavirus impact on PS5 and Xbox Series X, it seems likely that Assassin's Creed Ragnarok will fall in line with its predecessors. And if it and its contemporaries can build sufficient hype for the Ubisoft games releasing in early 2021, that could meant Ubisoft is going into the next generation of consoles guns blazing.
Assassin's Creed Ragnarok is rumored to be in development.