Netflix has just made their biggest move into gaming yet. The world’s biggest streamer has partnered with Ubisoft to make three mobile games that will be exclusive to the platform, including an Assassin’s Creed game, that will be coming in 2023.
The two other Ubisoft games will be new games in the Valiant Hearts and Mighty Quest franchises.
The games will “expand on the Valiant Hearts, Mighty Quest and Assassin’s Creed universes,” and will be available exclusively on mobile to Netflix members around the world with no ads or in-app purchases, according to Netflix.
The Assassin’s Creed game goes along with the previously announced Netflix live-action series based on the franchise.
The Might Quest game will “draw inspiration from the roguelike genre to deliver an experience that celebrates the series’ premiere hack-and-slash combat in a fresh and highly replayable format,” says the streamer.
The Valiant Hearts game will be a direct sequel to Valiant Hearts: The Great War, and is directed by the original core team and will retain the same DNA while featuring a new story, according to the announcement. It will be available to Netflix members in January 2023.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
As previously announced, Assassin’s Creed will also be getting a new game set in the Middle East, entitled Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which will hit consoles after the Netflix exclusive game in 2023.
There is no word yet on whether the two will tie in.
The trailer has dropped though, with Esquire Middle East’s May cover star Lee Majdoub revealed to be starring in the game as Basim, which you can watch here:
Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed game will match previous games in scale
The big question is what exactly these games will be. Speaking to Esquire Middle East, Netflix’s Leanne Loombe, Netflix’s Director of External Game Development promised that these games would match the scale of previous installments in each of these franchises—so start getting your hopes up.
“Based scale of those games that existed before, we want to be authentic to those franchises and make sure that we’re doing them justice, in terms of complexity and scope and depth of experience that we’re creating. Also, some of these games are super early, so we’re still actually figuring out exactly what these games experience are. We can’t go into super depth, but we are definitely staying true to the franchises and want to provide great games to the existing community and fans,” Loombe told Esquire Middle East.
The future of Netflix Games
For Loombe, the key thing about Netflix Games moving forward is that their approach will be a lot like Netflix itself—making something for literally everyone. Assassin’s Creed is only the first step.
“It really is about that diversity in that variety. And whoever our members are, we want to make sure there is a game on Netflix for them. And that’s a really important vision that we have,” Loombe tells us.
In its first 10 months, Netflix Games has launched 28 games, with a plan to hit 50 by the end of the year, Loombe tells us. This is very much the testing stage, and what games they make in the future will be based on what does well and what people respond to in this stage, including the intensity and target audience that future games might be geared towards.
Assassin’s Creed made the most sense for Netflix Games, Loombe says, because it ties in with a Netflix series. Upcoming games will most likely be based on Netflix franchises, like the upcoming Queen’s Gambit game.
“We are also focused on Netflix IP. We’re very excited to do more of that and bring more Netflix IP games to the service,” says Loombe.
As for the Ubisoft games, announced officially at Ubisoft’s annual digital event Ubisoft Forward just now, more details will be available in the coming days
“As we continue to create great experiences on all platforms, we’re glad to be partnering with such an innovative and creative partner as Netflix,” says Jean-Michel Detoc, Chief Mobile Officer, Ubisoft. “I believe that this partnership will be a great opportunity for Netflix members to further explore our worlds and universes on mobile.”