In the almost two years it's been since Ubisoft first teased Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe, we've learned very little about the game.
A teaser from 2022's Ubisoft Forward event heavily implied a focus on witchcraft, with reports that the game will be set in Central Europe during the 16th-century Holy Roman Empire.
This week, Insider-Gaming exclusively reported that Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe is still "relatively early" in development and that the game won't be released until 2026. The report goes on to say that Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe will be more of a "linear experience" compared to its predecessors, although there still will be "some elements of open-world exploration."
This is somewhat in line with what Ubisoft executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté hinted at when he described it as a "very different Assassin's Creed game."
Insider-Gaming had previously reported that Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe will feature a single female playable protagonist, named Elsa, who possesses supernatural abilities. Footage provided to the website seems to confirm this report. While they weren't allowed to upload the leaked footage, they did describe what was shown:
In the footage, Elsa is seemingly being hunted by 16th-century German soldiers (image of what the soldiers look like here) and uses a spell to possess a nearby cat. The player then controls the cat and uses it to distract the soldiers by knocking over a glass bottle, which smashes on the ground and diverts the soldier’s attention. The gameplay provided to Insider Gaming depicts a dark and gloomy setting in the cobbled streets of the city.
A lot of the game's details are being kept under wraps, but sources have indicated that the Fear System mechanic from Assassin's Creed Syndicate will return.
Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal with Clint Hocking serving as creative director. It is set to arrive after Assassin's Creed Codename Red, which will take players to the long-awaited setting of feudal Japan.
Ubisoft confirmed that both Assassin's Creed Codename Red and Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe will be a part of Assassin's Creed Codename Infinity, a hub that will connect players through different types of Assassin's Creed experiences, old and new.
Speaking to IGN back in 2022, Côté explained that you'll still be able to purchase both games as a box product individually, but that the first thing you see when you boot them up will be Infinity Hub. It basically sounds like a launcher of sorts.
“You can absolutely buy [Codename Red] as a box product,” Côté, vice president and executive producer of Assassin's Creed, confirmed. “But the first thing that you'll see [when you boot it up] is the Infinity [hub] that makes it coherent. But you can buy [Infinity’s second game] Hexe separately as well. This is how we envision things today. So it is still the same games that we were building, but bridged together in the Infinity hub. And obviously if you're in the Infinity hub playing Red, you'll see Hexe come and be available as a memory that you can explore.”