Yaaarrr. There be a fresh report about the long-rumoured Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake Ubisoft have still yet to publicly acknowledge. It claims the publisher are currently looking to release the retooled piracy game in early 2026, as well as providing more alleged details as to how the remake’ll differ from the original.
This Black Flag remake’s been reported to be in development several times over the past couple of years, with the voice actor of original protagonist Edward Kenway alleging that he got in trouble for being recorded teasing it at a convention earlier this year.
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Enter this video report from French publication Jeux Vidéo Magazine. They cite sources as having told them that Ubisoft are currently aiming to release the remake early next year, with March being the month it’s most likely to make port. That said, Jeux Vidéo Magazine also cite some sources as having cast doubt over that and indicated it could be pushed towards the end of 2026, due to there allegedly being a lot of work left to do at this point.
The report also details a number of tweaks that developers Ubisoft Singapore, along with support studios Ubisoft Bordeaux and Ubisoft Belgrade are supposedly making to the original, mostly to bring Black Flag in line with the series’ more recent entries. Parts of the present-day sections that saw you coming out of the Animus and wandering around the office of Abstergo Entertainment are reportedly being swapped out for more adventures set in the past, with cut content involving pirate Mary Read making up part of that.
It wouldn’t be too big a surprise, given the series has moved away from hefty present day elements of late, having adjusted to life without early protagonist Desmond Mason spearheading the non-past assassin/templar bickering. This year’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows features very little to take you out of murdering your way through feudal Japan, unless you’re prepared to muck about in the Animus Hub menus or spend too long staring at a warning about fragmented memories.
Meanwhile, Jeux Vidéo Magazine report that the inventory and combat systems have been overhauled in a more RPG-style fashion that’ll bring them closer to the likes of Shadows and Valhalla. Tech-wise, we can apparently expect improvements like load-screenless sailing, smaller islands being less barren, and the use of Shadows’ engine making things look a bit less dated.
We reached out to Ubisoft for comment, and the publishers responded that they “haven’t got anything to share” right now.
My feelings are a bit mixed at the moment as to whether this Black Flag remaster’ll have much to offer over just firing up the original again for some very good piracy and assassining that’s also there. Then again, Oblivion Remastered, a revamp which left me quite on the fence about its deliberately minimal tweakage outside of the obvious facelift, proved plenty popular earlier this year.
