Assassin's Creed finally heads to Japan with Codename Red, the first piece of Infinity

An assassin on the roof of Assassin's Creed Codename Red
(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Assassin's Creed: Codename Red is the series' long-awaited debut in feudal Japan, and it will be the first piece of Assassin's Creed Infinity.

Codename Red is Ubisoft's "next premium flagship title and the future of our open-world RPG games on Assassin's Creed," according to Marc-Alexis Côté, executive producer on Assassin's Creed. "It is being developed by Ubisoft Quebec, the studio behind Assassin's Creed Odyssey, under the creative direction of Jonathan Dumont. It will let players explore one of their most awaited settings ever on the franchise, feudal Japan, and they'll live a very powerful shinobi fantasy."

A brief teaser trailer shows a character dressed in shinobi gear leaping onto a Japanese castle rooftop bathed in blood-red sunlight. The character wields both a katana and the series' traditional hidden blade.

Whatever the final title of Codename Red, it will be the first piece of the Assassin's Creed Infinity project. Ubisoft's still coy about what Infinity is, but Côté describes it as a "hub that will unite all our different experiences, and our players, together in meaningful ways." Both Codename Red and the witchy-looking Codename Hexe will be part of Infinity, and Ubisoft is also looking to build "standalone multiplayer experiences" for the platform.

There is not yet a release date for Codename Red, and it's unclear whether the Infinity platform will launch alongside it, or some time later. Both Red and Infinity are coming after Assassin's Creed Mirage, which launches in 2023, so expect a long wait ahead before you can put your hands on this one.

Hopefully these new titles can measure up against the best Assassin's Creed games of the past.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.