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Assassin's Creed games in order: chronological and release
Dec 14, 2023 News Source trueachievements 25 hits
The Assassin’s Creed timeline was an unpredictable beast at the best of times. With Mirage now out — and Assassin’s Creed Codename Red and Hexe on the horizon — it seemed a good time to pick up that tangled historical mess and try to get it into order. It’s difficult especially since most of the AC games refuse to stick to just one historical period, and its characters often bounce in and out of each other’s stories. Nevertheless, we’ve tidied it all up into comprehensive lists of all the Assassin’s Creed games in order , both chronologically and by release. Take a look below for the Assassin’s Creed games in release order, followed by a more detailed roundup of the chronological timeline. All of the mainline Assassin’s Creed games are playable on Xbox. Assassin’s Creed games in release order Along with the Assassin’s Creed games jumping back and forth through time (which we’ll get to in the chronological bit) there’s the release schedule nonsense to take into account — for instance, Assassin’s Creed III coming three years and two games after Assassin’s Creed II. There’s a whole load of extra Assassin’s Creed lore in mobile games, books, comics, and movies, but for the purposes of this list, and our sanity, we’re focusing on the 13 main games. Assassin’s Creed Assassin’s Creed II Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Assassin’s Creed III Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Assassin’s Creed Rogue Assassin’s Creed Unity Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Assassin’s Creed Origins Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Assassin’s Creed Mirage Assassin’s Creed games in chronological order If ever there was a franchise that jumps around in history, it’s Assassin’s Creed, especially with its hopscotch through historical settings (zooming from Ancient Greece to London in the 1800s). Then there’s the fact that the games cover several different historical periods at once — the setting for the historical Assassin themselves, and the (much more boring) modern bits detailing the Assassins’ continued fight in the present day (we're not including sections set in the future when discussing the games below, just the main settings). Then there’s the fact that a lot of the characters refuse to stay put in their own original history but jump about into everyone else’s. Add to that endless flashbacks, time anomalies, and DLC covering gaps in the games, and it’s a mess of a timeline that can be a real headache to make sense of. Hopefully . Luckily that’s what we’ve done here: a full recounting of the Assassin’s Creed games in chronological order. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (431 - 422 BC) Assassin’s Creed Origins (49 - 44 BC) Assassin’s Creed Mirage (861) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (872 - 878) Assassin’s Creed (1191) Assassin’s Creed II (1476 - 1499) Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (1499 - 1507) Assassin’s Creed Revelations (1511 - 1512) Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (1715 - 1722) Assassin’s Creed Rogue (1752 - 1776) Assassin’s Creed III (1754 - 1783) Assassin’s Creed Unity (1789 - 1794) Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (1868) How to play through the Assassin’s Creed games in timeline order: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (431 - 422 BC) Release date: October 5, 2018 Developer: Ubisoft Quebec Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S It seems more sensible for a game called “Origins” to be the first on the list, but it’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey that kicks things off chronologically. It’s set in Ancient Greece with its own version of the Peloponnesian War. More specifically, Odyssey’s main story begins in 431 BC (after a short flash of events even earlier in 480 BC where our character’s grandfather, King Leonidas of Sparta, is facing the Persian army). This game is set hundreds of years before Assassin’s Creed Origins — before there were even Hidden Ones, let alone the evolution into the Brotherhood itself. Kassandra (or Alexios, if you must) is a mercenary, and despite dismantling a cult, isn’t technically an Assassin with a capital A, since things of that sort don’t really get officially going until we get to Bayek. Which brings us to… Assassin’s Creed Origins (49 - 44 BC) Release date: October 27, 2017 Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S Although it’s not the first game to play when tackling the Assassin’s Creed franchise in chronological order, Origins does retain the right to be called “Origins” since it charts the beginning of the Hidden Ones proper. It’s set in Ancient Egypt in 49 BC, with Ptolemy XIII struggling with his sister Cleopatra over the rule of the kingdom. It’s a personal tragedy (the death of his son) which sets our character Bayek on a quest for revenge with his wife Aya, and it’s not until he meets Cleopatra that he learns of the Order of the Ancients. It’s usual for Assassin’s Creed protagonists to come face-to-face with the major historical figures of their day, but it’s in Origins that the Hidden Ones, the forerunner of the Assassin Brotherhood, is formed to combat the corruption of the Order. Assassin’s Creed Mirage (861) Release date: October 5, 2023 Developer: Ubisoft Bordeaux Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S We then jump ahead to Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which, while the latest Assassin’s Creed game to be released, is actually third in order if you play chronologically. It’s set in ninth century Baghdad (861 to be precise) and follows the character of Basim. We actually met Basim before Mirage — his older self appears in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which came out before Mirage, but is set afterwards. Confusing, right? Mirage is actually a standalone adventure, so you don’t need to know too much about Assassin’s Creed shenanigans; it just makes for a more interesting context. Mirage is Basim’s origin story, detailing his rise from street thief to the master assassin we see in Valhalla. It’s also where we see the construction of Alamut, which would come to be a stronghold for the Hidden Ones. Mirage also marked a shift in gameplay. Released after Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, it aimed to return to the roots (link) of the Assassin’s Creed franchise with less of a focus on huge open worlds and RPG elements, and more of an emphasis on stealth and assassination. There’s not so clear an end date for Mirage, although there isn’t too big of a gap before we run into Basim again… Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (872 - 878) Release date: November 10, 2020 Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S In general the Assassin’s Creed games leap across vast swathes of history, but Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is actually set just 11 years or so after Mirage, in around 872 CE (although there are brief flashes of Eivor’s earlier life). This is emphasized by the fact that we run into an older Basim there. Valhalla is mostly set in England (with a fair few diversions to Norway and Vinland, as well as other places which we don’t want to spoil if you haven’t yet played). That’s in addition to the DLC, which takes Eivor gallivanting across Europe. England at this time is divided into rival kingdoms and is also attempting to deal with the viking forces settling there. Like with Odyssey, Eivor isn’t introduced as an Assassin in Valhalla. They’re a viking warrior looking to build a new home in the more plentiful lands of England before being caught up in the fight between the Hidden Ones and the Order of the Ancients. The main story wraps up around 878, but the DLC extends on to 879, 885, 887, and beyond. Assassin’s Creed (1191) Release date: November 16, 2007 Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Platforms: Xbox 360 Now we’re onto the original Assassin’s Creed. It’s set towards the end of the Third Crusade, in 1191, and follows Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, a fully-fledged high-ranking member of the Assassin Brotherhood. Well, he was, until he jeopardised an important mission and gets demoted until he can prove himself once more by killing key Templar targets. It’s here, in the first Assassin’s Creed game, where the Order of the Ancients is known as the Knights Templar or the Templar Order. Assassin’s Creed II (1476 - 1499) Release date: November 20, 2009 Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Platforms: Xbox 360 Moving on, we jump hundreds of years ahead to the 1400s, where Ezio Auditore da Firenze is living through the Italian Renaissance. Assassin’s Creed II actually covers quite a span of Ezio’s life — we see his birth in 1459 before the events of around 1476 which kickstart his training as an Assassin. You then jump across the next twelve years or so of his battle for revenge, before he officially makes it into the Brotherhood, and then skip ahead again to 1499 and Ezio’s key final battle. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (1499 - 1507) Release date: November 19, 2010 Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Platforms: Xbox 360 This one isn’t such a jump forward in time — as a sequel to Assassin’s Creed II, it picks up from the end of the last game, with Ezio once more in 1499 and follows his efforts over the next few years to take out the Templars. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood continues with Ezio’s successes over the following years before culminating in 1507. Assassin’s Creed Revelations (1511 - 1512) Release date: November 15, 2011 Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Platforms: Xbox 360 But we’re not done with Ezio, who’s back again in Assassin’s Creed Revelations. This is the last part of Ezio’s story in the 1500s before we move on to a different century and setting. Beginning a few years after Brotherhood, in 1511, it sees Ezio heading to Masyaf and then on to Constantinople to become embroiled in the affairs of the Ottoman Empire. Luckily we’re going by main mission setting for this list and not by the time period of various flashbacks, otherwise we’d need to whizz Revelations back up the list to the 1100s, and it’d mess up this neat ordering. Instead, this fits in neatly with Ezio’s adventures in the 1500s, before we move on to… Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (1715 - 1722) Release date: October 29, 2013 Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S Black Flag remains one of the most beloved Assassin’s Creed games. Set during the Golden Age of Piracy, Black Flag begins in 1715 in the Caribbean and follows pirate Edward Kenway, who finds himself involved in the Brotherhood’s affairs by chance rather than because he actually meant to. Black Flag winds up around 1722, but we’re not yet done with the 1700s, because next we have… Assassin’s Creed Rogue (1752 - 1776) Release date: November 13, 2014 Developer: Ubisoft Sofia Platforms: Xbox 360 Rogue jumps ahead several decades to 1752 and changes its setting to North America. The biggest change here is that you’re playing as a Templar, instead of the usual Assassin. Shay Patrick Cormac becomes disillusioned with the Assassin Brotherhood around 1754 and falls in instead with the Templars around 1756, before things come to a head with the game’s ending in 1776. Assassin’s Creed III (1754 - 1783) Release date: October 31, 2012 Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Platforms: Xbox 360 We then jump back a little — Assassin’s Creed Rogue came out after Assassin’s Creed III, but starts earlier and ends later. In Assassin’s Creed III we return to North America in 1754 for the American Revolution. Haytham Kenway takes us from 1754 to 1755 before we move on to the story of his son, Ratonhnhaké:ton (or Connor), from 1760. An older Ratonhnhaké:ton in 1769 begins his training, and the game winds up with the culmination of his journey in Assassin’s Creed III in 1783. Assassin’s Creed Unity (1789 - 1794) Release date: November 13, 2014 Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S Assassin’s Creed Unity takes us to Paris in the late 1700s. That's after a disorientating dip into France in 1307 for the game’s prologue (via Abstergo's Helix program) which sets up you joining the Assassins in the game's modern-day bit, but we're not counting that, as the game's main bit is in the 18th century. There’s again a bit of overlap here; the game briefly takes us to 1776 for a portion of protagonist Arno Dorian’s childhood, before jumping ahead to the main stuff in 1789. Unity wraps up Arno’s story of working for the Brotherhood in 1794. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (1868) Release date: October 23, 2015 Developer: Ubisoft Quebec Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S Then we take one last big historical leap to the latter half of the 1800s in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. We head to Victorian England for the tale of Jacob and Evie Frye, beginning in 1868 with the twins arriving in London. There’s also a few pieces of DLC for Syndicate, one of which takes place a few decades later in 1888, while the main game includes a time anomaly which lets you briefly head forward in time to World War 1.
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