If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of two kinds of people: you’re eager to get started with the Assassin’s Creed Franchise but don’t know where to begin, or you’re a big AC fan who just wants to scroll down memory lane and see if you’ve missed any games released.
Either way, you’ll be surprised to know that we’re listing down all the Assassin’s Creed games in order, based on date of release and in chronological order (history).
Assassin’s Creed is one of the biggest video game franchises in the industry and is developed by Ubisoft. The main story of the games revolves around the conflict between two groups – the Assassins and the Templars. Players play the role of certain Assassins throughout different periods of time and navigate their way to unraveling whatever conspiracy the Templars and their cohorts are up to.
Assassin’s Creed is one of the pioneers of open world exploration, and maintained this philosophy in all of their main games. But Ubisoft Montreal didn’t exactly plan out the Assassin’s Creed series. Rather, the game was born out of the ideas for planning a sequel to one of their other games: Prince of Persia – The Sands of Time. This is why the original Assassin’s Creed game had similar mechanics to PoP, but with more refined and flashy movements.
A Look At The Main Assassin’s Creed Series in Release Order
As we mentioned earlier, Assassin’s Creed released several main games over the years, and a few spinoffs. Down the line, the newer Assassin’s Creed games released were independent from one another, meaning you can play latest game without having played the previous game.
For those who want to get started with the Assassin’s Creed games, here is a complete list of every game under the Assassin’s Creed series.
Assassin’s Creed (2007)
- Release date: November 13, 2007
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows
The first game was launched back in
2007 and was received positively by gamers because of the unique gameplay. The graphics aren’t as impressive as the later games in the series, but fans have dubbed the first Assassin’s Creed game as one of the best games in the franchise.
The titular game has you playing Altair Ibn La-Ahad, an assassin roaming through the Middle East during the medieval ages. The first game of the Assassin’s Creed series will introduce you into the main plot points and establish the baseline of the Ezio trilogy. Here, you’ll learn about how the Animus works, about how genetic memories make it possible for Desmond Miles to become Altair, and the Templars themselves.
Assassin’s Creed II (2009)
- Release date: November 17, 2009
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows, OS X
The sequel to the first game, Assassin’s Creed II, takes place in a different time with a different Assassin. The second game now has Desmond Miles tapping into Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who lived in Italy at the time. And yes, through genetic memory, Ezio is one of Desmond’s ancestors.
Because his family was betrayed, Ezio joined the Assassins to take revenge against the Templars and those who betrayed his family. The new storyline did a great job establishing itself as an independent story while making decent callbacks to the previous game. Assassin’s Creed II also brought the seriez’ first DLCs, Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities. Both were released in 2010.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (2010)
- Release date: November 16, 2010
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows, OS X
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is the third game of the series and follows Ezio once more, who’s now become a Master Assassin. This time, Ezio has taken himself out of the Middle East and is now exploring Rome to help reestablish the Assassin Brotherhood and take down the Templars at the same time.
The third game follows the events of Assassin’s Creed II and the first game, but if you haven’t played either, don’t worry. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’s storyline makes sure that you’re caught up with previous events (albeit only the major details from the previous games are highlighted).
There was also a new game feature in the third installment where you could recruit assassins to help you carry out your missions. You filled out the gauge as you explored Rome and took on the main quests and side quests. You could then call on these assassins to fight alongside you, or send them on missions for rewards.
Following in the footsteps of Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood also had DLCs: Copernicus Conspiracy, Animus Project Update 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, and The Da Vinci Disappearance.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (2011)
- Release date: November 15, 2011
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows
The fourth installment of the series follows Ezio once more for the last time. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations continues the events that transpired from Brotherhood and concludes the Ezio Trilogy.
Players find themselves exploring much of Rome, Firenze, and other Italian cities, and Istanbul. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations also added new features such as the Hookblade, where you can travel via zipline within the city. The Assassin’s Creed: Revelations also has three DLC’s namely Ancestors Character Pack, The Lost Archive, and Mediterranean Traveler Map Pack.
Assassin’s Creed III (2012)
- Release date: October 30, 2012
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows, Wii U, Switch
Assassin’s Creed III introduces a fresh start into the Desmond Miles storyline as well as a huge time jump. This time, you now take on a Native American named Ratonhnhaké:ton during the American Revolutionary War. A handful to pronounce, we know. But your American name is Connor, which helps you blend into American society. Similar to the previous games, Connor turns from an awkward and reluctant Assassin into a Master Assassin to help fight the Templars and defend his tribe.
Assassin’s Creed III may not have as much of a storyline impact as the Ezio Trilogy, but the game does a good job into exploring a wider open world with an enhanced multiplayer mode. You also get new game features such as animal hunting, weather changes, and naval combat, which is a lot of fun. You also get introduced to new weapons, with my favorite being the Tomahawk.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)
- Release date: October 29, 2013
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows
Right after Assassin’s Creed III
, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was the next installment. The game takes place several decades prior to the events of Assassin’s Creed III. Here, you take up the mantle of Edward Kenway, who just so happens to be the grandfather of Connor. In the previous game, Edward Kenway was mentioned a little bit during the early parts.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag uncovers the life of Edward Kenway and how he became an Assassin. With his obsession with power and wealth, it didn’t really take long for him to cross paths with the Templars.
But what really set Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag apart from Assassin’s Creed III was the improved naval combat. It makes sense for Ubisoft to improve this system that was introduced in AC III. In Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, your naval battles now have you boarding other ships and controlling ports using your ship.
Assassin’s Creed: Rogue (2014)
- Release date: November 11, 2014
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows
Following i
n the footsteps of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Assassin’s Creed: Rogue takes place in the colonial era, but unlike the other games, you now take the role of a Templar. You play as Shay, an ex Assassin who decided to jump ships (see what I did there) and switched to the Templars.
Even if you joined the other side of the ancient secret societies, the gameplay is pretty much the same. All the mechanics as you’d have with an Assassin are the same as you’d play a Templar. Of course, you were an assassin initiate to begin with. The naval battles aren’t as in-depth or as plentiful as Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, but it’s still really good.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity (2014)
- Release date: November 11, 2014
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Assassin’s Creed: Unity w
as released together with Rogue, and as you predicted, both games are tied together. The ending of Rogue ties in with the beginning of Unity. Assassin’s Creed: Unity takes you to Europe once more during the French revolution, but what makes Assassin’s Creed: Unity so memorable is the gameplay.
Shifting from Rogue, the gameplay experience was unlike any other. The parkour and combat mechanics were smoother, along with in-depth character customization. There was also the addition of cooperative multiplayer mode where players could work together as opposed to fighting one another.
Unfortunately, cooperative multiplayer was only found in Assassin’s Creed: Unity. It was never implemented in the future titles. You also get new weapons in Assassin’s Creed: Unity, including the Phantom Blade. The Phantom Blade was the lovechild of the Hidden Blade and Crossbow. I’ll let your imagination do the rest.
Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (2015)
- Release date: October 23, 2015
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows
One year after the release of Unity and Rogue, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate was introduced to AC fans old and new alike. The game takes players ahead of both Rogue and Unity’s timeline because now you’re in Victorian-era London.
This is the first Assassin’s Creed games where you have the option of playing two characters: Jacob and Evie Frye, who are twins. You can switch between the two characters at any time. Jacob focuses on aggressive combat while Evie takes on a more stealthier approach.
The gameplay experience of Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate is similar to all AC games, but Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate has a slightly different approach. Ubisoft introduced a leveling system where enemies have levels, and in order for you to beat them, you need to be at least the same level as them or higher. You can defeat high-level enemies but it’s challenging. A lot of AC fans were disappointed with the leveling system, but to some, it was a breath of fresh air.
Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate was a fun game and provided players with different things to do on top of the main quests.
Assassin’s Creed: Origins (2017)
- Release date: October 7, 2017
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Assassin’s Creed: Origins broke the mold for the previous games. Before Origins, all the other games followed the same formula, and players were starting to feel like every other sequel after the first trilogy was nothing more than rehashed content.
Rather than introducing a new title every year, Ubisoft took a sabbatical and started to focus on newer gameplay concepts. The end result of this sabbatical was Assassin’s Creed: Origins. The story of Assassin’s Creed: Origins takes you back to how the Assassin Brotherhood was established, which is what every fan (new and old) should experience.
Assassin’s Creed: Origins takes players back to the time of Ptolemaic Egypt (ancient Egypt) and brings with it an entirely new and different combat system. The open world was more spacious and bigger compared to the previous games. Everything about Assassin’s Creed: Origins was a refresh of the other games.
Fans were a bit skeptical about their reception for Assassin’s Creed: Origins, with some even calling it the end of the AC franchise. But later on, Assassin’s Creed: Origins became a fan favorite.
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (2018)
- Release date: October 5, 2018
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Following up on the hype brought by Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Ubisoft announced Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey for release in 2018. This time, the game takes you to the Peloponnesian War and in the Hellenic World. You take the role of Alexios, who didn’t know that his family existed apart from knowing that his father left him out in the world to die.
His journey to uncovering the truths about his family brings him to the front doors of a cult hell-bent on dominating the world. The main storyline will tell players about the different truths about Alexios and his family while bearing witness to the rise of the Templars.
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey wasn’t without criticism though. For starters, this was the first AC game that didn’t have the Hidden Blade. This disappointed a lot of the old AC fans because this was always one of the things they looked forward to. Its removal, however, chronologically made sense because this was during the time when the concept of stealth and assassination was relatively non-existent.
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey was just as big as Origins in terms of the RPG elements and open-world experience. There were new weapons, new game modes, and a return of a fan-favorite mechanic: naval battles. The storyline and dialogue were also streamlined. Now, you can choose your dialogues, with each choice leading you to different outcomes. In simpler terms, you get different endings for whatever path you chose.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (2020)
- Release date: November 10, 2020
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Windows, Stadia
The latest Assassin’s Creed game is Valhalla, and is possibly the first game to utilize Google Stadia, a cloud-based game streaming platform. And as expected from the teased images and trailer, you play as a Viking. The game takes you to the Viking Invasion of Britain, and as Eivor, you’re trying your best to protect the creed.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla follows in the footsteps of Origins and Odyssey in terms of game mechanics, open-world exploration, and even though it’s not the viking way, the stealth element.
Are There Assassin’s Creed Spin-Offs?
The main games weren’t the only games that made the AC franchise as big as it is today. There are several spinoffs that gave players a chance to play the game without relying on the main games’ storyline.
Here’s a short list of all the spinoffs according to release date:
- Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles (Released 2008)
- Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines (Released 2009)
- Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery (Released 2009)
- Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (Released 2012)
- Assassin’s Creed: Pirates (Released 2013)
- Assassin’s Creed: Identity (Released 2014)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China (Released 2015)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India (Released 2016)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia (Released 2016)
- Assassin’s Creed Unity: Arno’s Chronicles (Released 2017)
- Assassin’s Creed: Rebellion (Released 2018)
Assassin’s Creed Games In Order (Chronological Order)
If you’re one of those fans who’ve played every AC game on the list, you might want to amp up your experience by playing it in chronological order, or in the time periods when each game took place.
Here’s the list arranged according to time periods:
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (2018) – All game events took place in 431 BC
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins (2017) – All game events took place in 49 to 43 BC
- Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (2020) – All game events took place in 873 AD
- Assassin’s Creed (2007) – All game events took place in 1191 AD
- Assassin’s Creed II (2009) – All game events took place in 1459 AD
- Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (2010) – All game events took place in 1500 to 1507 AD
- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (2011) – All game events took place in 1511 AD
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013) – All game events took place in 1712 to 1722 AD
- Assassin’s Creed: Rogue (2014) – All game events took place in 1752 to 1760 AD
- Assassin’s Creed III (2012) – All game events took place in 1754 to 1783 AD
- Assassin’s Creed: Unity (2014) – All game events took place in 1776 to 1783 AD
- Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (2015) – All game events took place in in 1868 AD
What Happens Next?
Things will only get better for the franchise, as long as it follows in the footsteps of the last three games previously released (Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla). The sky’s the limit for the franchise, so one can only hope as to what the next story will be about.
While we’re not expecting a modern time period for Assassins and Templars any time soon, fans are clamoring for the following time periods:
- Age of the Samurais and Ninjas
- Another trip to the medieval ages
- A deeper exploration into the world of the Templars, maybe even having a player take up a role of someone who becomes a Templar grand master in the future.
- World War 1 and 2
Note that these are just what fans want for the next Assassin’s Creed games. Ubisoft has not made any announcement for any new AC game after Valhalla.
Conclusion
There you have it, a list of every Assassin’s Creed games in order. Without a doubt in the world, the Assassin’s Creed franchise is one of the biggest and most successful franchises in video game history. The franchise spawned books and even a Hollywood adaptation starring Michael Fassbender. With Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla reinvigorating the AC fans all across the world, it shouldn’t even surprise us that Ubisoft might have another one in the works.
