It looks like Assassin's Creed's immediate service has been delayed a bit. Last summer, Ubisoft unveiled Assassin's Creed: Infinity, a constantly updated Destiny-style instant service where traditional games like Assassin's Creed: Temple of Heroes and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey will be obsolete. While this is likely to happen, according to recent bloomberg reports, another new standalone Assassin's Creed game is coming.
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier broke the news that the original large expansion pack of Assassin's Creed: The Temple of Heroes will be expanded into a complete game. The DLC is similar in scale to the upcoming DLC "Dawn of Doom," but Ubisoft Montreal split it into a standalone game code-named Rift at the end of 2021.
Apparently, the new Assassin's Creed game will feature The Reincarnation of Basim, a popular character in the Assassin's Creed universe, and will be a smaller gaming experience, abandoning the usual open-world setting in favor of a more linear stealth gameplay scheduled for late 2022 or 2023.
As for why Ubisoft chose to release a small Assassin's Creed indie game, Bloomberg reported that Ubisoft was worried about their current release plans. Assassin's Creed: Infinity is not yet available, and other games are in trouble, including Black Sails, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake, and Beyond Good and Evil 2.
After the Bloomberg report, foreign media outlet Eurogamer confirmed the report through their sources. Eurogamer reveals that the new Assassin's Creed story takes place before Assassin's Creed: The Hall of Heroes, mainly in Baghdad in the 9th century.
Basim has been confirmed to be from Abbasid Caliphate, which was its capital in the 9th century and the setting era of Assassin's Creed: The Hall of Heroes in the 9th century.
A Ubisoft spokesperson told Bloomberg they would not respond to rumors or speculation because it would hurt their development team and community. Ubisoft also added that they have a solid and exciting lineup of released games, both of already famous brands with new stories and features, as well as entirely new IPs that will continue to change the landscape of today's games.
Although released in 2020, Assassin's Creed: The House of Heroes continues to have new content to be released. Ubisoft recently added a new quest to link up with Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, bringing the latter's protagonist, Kassandra, into the Temple of Valle. The game's next major DLC, Dawn of Doom, will be released on March 10.