Ubisoft is a big player in the open-world gaming scene, in part thanks to the Assassin's Creed franchise that has endured for decades. Since its humble beginnings in 2007, the series has spawned multiple titles on various platforms while constantly reinventing its identity. In addition to the stealth and rooftop-jumping the franchise provides, gamers also continually flock to it for its impressive exploration of geography and myths from around the world. The latest entry, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, brings the series to the latest gaming generation while taking gamers on a Nordic adventure.
According to leaks and rumors, the next Assassin's Creed title that gamers can expect is Assassin's Creed Rift. It is reportedly a smaller game focused on stealth, which may be a nice change of pace after Valhalla which was exhaustingly colossal. If Assassin's Creed Rift is truly on the way, it may be a good idea for Ubisoft to not delay releasing it on the Nintendo Switch, as it sounds like the perfect title for the platform.
What Is Assassin's Creed Rift?
Reports of Assassin's Creed Rift first came through a story that journalist Jason Schreier published on Bloomberg. According to Schreier, Ubisoft was originally planning another expansion for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, but it eventually decided to turn it into a standalone game to fill out its thin release schedule. The game is codenamed Assassin's Creed Rift, and it will center on a character named Basim, who makes an appearance in Valhalla. As players learn in Valhalla, Basim was born in Baghdad, and he rose to become one of the Hidden Ones, who are later known as the Assassin Brotherhood.
Despite being a standalone title, Rift will not be a sprawling open-world game, and it will instead be smaller in scope and focused on stealth gameplay. This is good news, as Ubisoft has implemented stealth quite well in past Assassin's Creed games. Schreier claimed that the game is slated to release either in late 2022 or in 2023, but seeing as how Ubisoft has yet to give any word on Rift yet, next year is looking far likelier. He also claimed that the game will release before Assassin's Creed Infinity, which is an upcoming live service game.
Recently, Schreier went on Reddit and spoke about Assassin's Creed again. This time, it was to dispel a rumor claiming that the next Assassin's Creed game would focus on the Aztecs. Schreier once again claimed that the next Assassin's Creed game is Rift, and that it will be set in Baghdad. He also added that the game that will follow it, Assassin's Creed Infinity, will feature many "games/experiences/biomes/whatever you want to call them." Unlike Rift, Infinity has been confirmed by Ubisoft. This online game, according to Ubisoft, will stretch across multiple periods and feature narratives.
It has been a trend for developers to delay their Nintendo Switch ports when releasing games. However, Assassin's Creed Rift has great potential on the Switch, which is why Ubisoft should rather release it on day one. Instead of treating the Switch version as a lower priority port, it should view it as the potential hit that it is.
Assassin's Creed Rift on the Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch is an impressive hybrid console that is also showing itself to have the potential to have a long lifespan. Its portability has made it quite attractive to gamers wishing to have a console gaming experience on the go, though it does come at a cost. The Switch is significantly less powerful than other consoles on the market. Consequently, while it shines when it comes it exclusives, it can sometimes struggle with larger games that were designed with the PS4 and Xbox One in mind before being later ported to the Switch.
This was seen with Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds, which was released in 2019 before receiving a Switch port in 2020. The sci-fi RPG takes gamers to Halcyon where mega-corporations control society. While the game was well-received on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, The Outer Worlds on Nintendo Switch featured a few problems that affected the overall gameplay experience. To get the massive game running on the Switch, the graphical quality was reduced, but this led to it being much harder to identify enemies. This, coupled with framerate issues, was a bit too much to bear for some.
Assassin's Creed Rift, which is reported to have a smaller scope than the average Assassin's Creed game, could avoid the problems that plagued The Outer Worlds by being a more focused, compact game that is not set in a sprawling open-world. While this suggests that Rift may be a shorter game, it also means that the Switch may be able to run it far better. If Rift runs smoothly on the Switch, it could be a hit on the system, and it would make no sense for Ubisoft to delay its release.
Assassin's Creed Rift also sounds like it has gameplay that is perfectly suited for the Rift. While sprawling open-world games can be fun for extended periods of play, the Switch is great for squeezing in a few minutes of gameplay, which is made possible by its portability. Shorter stealth missions would be a blast on the Switch, which is just another reason for Ubisoft to not delay releasing Rift on the hybrid console.
The Nintendo Switch has shown itself to be an impressive device, and developers continue to reveal its vast capabilities. However, while the array of bestsellers on the console proves its excellence, the few troublesome ports that exist also show that multiplatform titles are one of its weak points. Assassin's Creed Rift could be the game to buck the trend by offering a compact experience with gameplay that is suited to the hybrid console. Should the game run well on the Switch, Ubisoft should release it on the platform on day one instead of making Switch players wait.