The Assassin's Creed franchise is clearly not afraid to add variety to its key frameworks and formulas in the name of staving off tedium within its loyal player base. As well as the recent installments to the franchise adopting more RPG-like elements, the upcoming additions to the long-standing IP appear to offer their own comparatively unique experiences.
With Rift, Nexus, and Infinity all being slated to release under the Assassin's Creed moniker as the next steps in the franchise's trajectory, it can be difficult to keep up with the rumors and details. Further, each of the upcoming games is rumored to provide a wholly unique experience, so determining the differences between the titles can be the source of further confusion.
Assassin's Creed Rift
Assassin's Creed Rift is the working title for an upcoming installment within the franchise that is rumored to be a smaller-scale and narratively focused game that will provide an experience more akin to classic Assassin's Creed titles. It is strongly rumored that Rift will see Basim Ibn Ishaq as its protagonist, who was a character that featured frequently within Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
Rift was originally intended to be a part of Valhalla's post-launch DLC, however it has clearly grown in scale to the point where Ubisoft believes that it warrants its own standalone release. The game will reportedly be set primarily within the Middle East, most likely before the events of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. With the Iraqi capital of Baghdad being the primary rumored setting, many have noted the potential links between the upcoming Rift and the original Assassin's Creed, both physically and, to a lesser extent, temporally.
With Basim being an influential part of the Hidden Ones, the precursor group to the Assassin Brotherhood, the game could provide untold lore as to the specifics of the tumultuous transition between the two factions. Within Rift, fans should expect a smaller-scale and more intimate gameplay experience, lacking the bells and whistles of the extensive recent mainline releases but possessing the classic Assassin's Creed charm and narrative drive. Assassin's Creed Rift is currently rumored to release sometime toward the end of 2022.
Assassin's Creed Nexus
Another largely-rumored upcoming addition to Assassin's Creed is that of Nexus. Being the subject of several recent leaks, Assassin's Creed Nexus will reportedly be a large-scale virtual reality title set within the Assassin's Creed universe.
Obviously adopting a first-person perspective, Nexus will reportedly allow players to embody several of the franchise's most iconic and lethal assassins, such as Ezio Auditore. According to the leaks, the game will very much maintain the core elements of Assassin's Creed gameplay, with combat, stealth, and parkour being vital aspects of Nexus gameplay. Sound-based detection gauges are supposedly a major facet of Nexus stealth gameplay, with the iconic hidden blade also taking the lead in combat.
Supposedly containing 12 individual missions, most likely spanning different eras and assassins, it can be inferred that Nexus will not possess the expansive open world formulas that Ubisoft has become synonymous with. Providing a more linear experience instead, many will likely agree that this would ultimately be a better choice in providing curated gameplay befitting of virtual reality hardware. While the leaks also report that Assassin's Creed Nexus is set to release within the next 12 months, the information must be taken at face value and is of course subject to change due to its unofficial nature. Regardless, it would be fascinating to see how the classic Assassin's Creed formula can translate to the medium of virtual reality.
Assassin's Creed Infinity
Yet again being a title that was brought into the public eye via leaks, Assassin's Creed Infinity is rumored to be by far the most expansive of the aforementioned titles. Infinity is reportedly going to be a massive-scale live service Assassin's Creed title, massively changing what fans know of the Assassin's Creed formula and life cycle.
To gain an insight as to just how large of a working title Assassin's Creed Infinity currently is, leaks and rumors suggest that the game is not likely to release for another two or three years at least due to its sheer scale. The main allure of Infinity seemingly lies in the longevity that it will supposedly hold. Containing a huge array of settings, it appears that Assassin's Creed Infinity will have a slew of potential storylines and expansions that can seemingly be implemented to the game indefinitely after its launch.
Being a live service game, fans can expect to see content periodically added to Assassin's Creed Infinity for a long time following its release, with Ubisoft higher-ups Christophe Derennes and Nathalie Bouchard noting Infinity's aim to end the process of "[passing] the baton from game to game." With rumors that Infinity may even see remakes of classic AC games within it, it is clear that this upcoming title is set to stay around for a long time upon its eventual release.
While many fans are worried about Assassin's Creed Infinite due to the current uncertainty surrounding the future of Ubisoft and the wider Assassin's Creed franchise, solace can definitely be found in the studios that have been officially confirmed to be in charge of Infinite's development. Assassin's Creed Infinite will receive a "collaborative, cross-studio structure" between both Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Quebec in regard to its continuous live development. Keen fans of the franchise will know that both Montreal and Quebec are veteran studios within the development history of Assassin's Creed, working extensively on many of the game's now iconic classic titles. In what is clearly a bold move, Ubisoft could change the face of Assassin's Creed forever with this new title.