Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is here, but looking back at the OG 2013 game, the remake's creative director thinks that it only "became a classic" once players learned to love protagonist Edward Kenway.

Speaking in the latest issue of Retro Gamer, Paul Fu – who also served as a game designer on the original Black Flag – notes that while there's a lot to love in Ubisoft's pirate adventure, back at launch, not everyone was completely in love with quite how piratey it is. Namely, some felt that "Edward didn't really feel like an assassin."

Fu explains: "People really like the pirate fantasy and the characters, Blackbeard especially. I also remember what they didn't like early on was that Edward didn't really feel like an assassin."

Obviously, this wasn't a sentiment that stuck around forever. "I think people quickly came around in the next few years, and soon enough it became a classic," as Fu says. "I remember being really proud of the Montreal team for having the foresight to make an anti-hero."

He's certainly right about it becoming a classic – there's a reason why we rank it so highly on our list of the best Assassin's Creed games. With that said, it'll probably take a while before we can properly assess whether or not folks think its remake has been able to surpass it.

In our Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced review, we gave the remake three and a half stars out of five, praising its pirate atmosphere and excellent voice acting. However, games editor Oscar Taylor-Kent writes: "It splashes between wanting to be faithful, and wanting to make adjustments, not quite able to find an elegant middleground between the two. Combined with bugs and other annoyances, this isn't the bold, confident swing its predecessor was, but still a fun outing."

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced "is on track to be a much-needed hit for Ubisoft," says analyst, selling 5 times the Steam copies Assassin's Creed Shadows did pre-release.

The pizza crust might not be anyone's favorite part of a delicious, cheesy pie – but it is an integral part of the munch experience. They're a break from the main event that helps you appreciate the foundations of each bite. And, they can be killer with dip. That's exactly what Assassin's Creed's modern day sections and storytelling does for a complicated series like this – and it was a mistake for Black Flag Resynced, as a remake, to remove the 2013 original's present-day chapters.

Only with their removal do I really appreciate how important they were to grounding the overall package. A crustless pizza sounds all well and good until you're trying to lift it.

A hood in time

There's a lot I loved about Assassin's Creed Shadows, the first game to offload almost all of its 'modern' storytelling (it's now shifted to a few decades in the future). But when I look back on Naoe and Yasuke's adventure, it feels like a forgettable and insubstantial part of the series as a whole.

In fact, the further away Assassin's Creed moves from its overarching modern day stories – explaining why you, as a player, are using a digital device to relive ancestor memories from across time – the more adrift I've come to feel as a long-time fan of the franchise.

The first five Assassin's Creed games follow Desmond Miles as he's forced to use the Animus to relive the DNA-stored memories of his Master Assassin ancestors, helping the evil Templars locate mythical artefacts capable of reshaping reality on a whim in the present. The side effect of this device is that it awakens the skills and abilities of those ancestors within Desmond himself, leading to a handful of linear modern day missions where Desmond gets to show off his parkour and assassin skills.

It always felt like this set-up was building towards a modern-day blowout of 21st century Assassin action (which feels like it wouldn't be a stone's throw from something like Watch Dogs 2, in all honesty). It never came to pass, as Assassin-like gameplay in modern times was de-emphasized after Desmond's story concludes in Assassin's Creed 3.

Yet this bleeding effect, and the modern sequences, still serve a purpose. Through Desmond, the connected quest between Altair, Ezio, and Connor to protect the Pieces of Eden and unlock the Grand Temple, pivotal for humanity's survival, forms a cohesive whole. Bouncing between the Crusades, Renaissance Italy, and the American Revolution would feel random and directionless without the modern day sections creating a throughline.

The original Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag's modern story was a big shift, becoming narrative-heavy first-person sections with light puzzle-solving as you're goaded into investigating your evil game developer employer, Abstergo Entertainment. But, it still contributes to what we've been doing in all the previous games.

These aren't just brief palette cleansers that provide space for Edward Kenway's pirate journey to more naturally have some big time jumps, but important moments that deal with the fallout of Assassin's Creed 3's storyline. Poking around the office has you piece together what happened with Desmond and his friends, and new lore elements with the precursor Isu civilization even create some direct connections between the Age of Piracy and the time in which you find yourself.

With Black Flag Resynced especially, because it was originally designed to connect to the other games in this way, excising that content creates unsatisfying pace issues. As I mentioned in my Black Flag Resynced review, it even means one character arc is missing its bombastic ending and just fizzles out.

Speaking of fizzling, it's all the modern day storylines have managed to do since they've become de-emphasized. Rather than fixing any issues, the step back has made me feel directionless as a fan who wants to appreciate Assassin's Creed as a whole. While even Assassin's Creed Syndicate managed to somewhat incorporate the narrative thread around Juno (a digitized entity from the Isu civilization) escaping her prison, the conclusion of this was instead wrapped up in comic books as the series' RPG era entered the picture.

New modern day protagonist Layla Hassan wasn't perfect, but exploring the origins of the Assassin and Templar conflict at least gave the games some direction, especially through her connection with Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Kassandra. She, like the Isu Civilization's constantly reincarnating Sages, gives an additional timeline-spanning hook alongside the Animus' memory exploration.

Like it or not, past threads connecting is vital to Assassin's Creed DNA – and those threads have to connect somewhere. But, these plotlines struggled to mesh with Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and while Basim's own connection to the modern day through Valhalla and Mirage are super interesting, once again they peter out with Shadows.

New sections set within the Animus Ego attempt to connect Black Flag Resynced and the other, recent open-world RPG era of the games together. But, even within these segments of play, the all-digital world means all it can muster is gesturing towards these historical memories sitting together in a space almost as disconnected as the launcher-like menu that opens when you boot up either Black Flag Resynced or Shadows.

Assassin's Creed's modern sections were the glue holding the whole thing together – doing a lot with just a little. Assassin's Creed 2's morsels of action with Desmond, and absurd reveals about who throughout history has been on the side of the Assassins and Templars, can easily be forgotten about if it's not your thing. But, to others like me, they're an invitation to revel in the sometimes-absurd, sometimes-engrossing spiraling worldbuilding of the series.

It makes me feel like part of a club as a fan. Ubisoft acting self-conscious about that part of the series identity can feel off-putting in its lack of confidence, and make it feel like the clubhouse door has creaked close for business. How can I be a fan of something that isn't sure what it even is anymore? I need something to nibble on again. I need my crust.

Check out the best open world games for more massive adventures!

Looking back on the infamously buggy Assassin's Creed Unity after 12 years, Ubisoft veteran Jean Guesdon admits "this opus maybe pushed too many things at once."

As part of a new feature about Assassin's Creed in a new issue of Retro Gamer – on sale now, by the way – Guesdon offers a sense that ambition is largely behind the game's tricky release.

"Sadly, Unity's launch was a huge challenge because of several reasons," he says. "Like AC3 with AnvilNext, Unity's development was impacted by the incredible new tech allowing for 1:1 scale, interiors, massive crowds, a brand-new parkour system and an integrated multiplayer component. Pushing content and tech at the same time is always very demanding, and this opus maybe pushed too many things at once."

"[AC Unity] is one of the most underestimated games in the series," he says.

If you care for a history lesson, one of the big pitches behind Assassin's Creed Unity was the ability to play co-op with three of your friends online. Sounds neat, doesn't it? Four players sneaking around to assassinate targets and work together to achieve a common objective attracted the interest of many.

As you might have figured by now, though, Assassin's Creed Unity wasn't really able to handle it, among other things. Not long after launch, the interest was awash with clips of various graphical issues and bugs, leading to an apology from Ubisoft and a free expansion to make up for the bother.

Despite the bumps, Assassin's Creed Unity ultimately sold well, but Ubisoft certainly had to learn a lesson or two about matching ambition to what's deliverable.

"This is not how I imagined it would end": Ubisoft to lay off Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced devs at its Barcelona studio, with one calling the remake's release "bittersweet."

I'm surrounded by enemies in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, and I'm getting my ass kicked. Two swordsmen flank me either side, one heavy axe-wielding brute boxes me in dead ahead. I don't have enough room to swing my sword – but I do have one last smoke bomb.

Executing targets big or small with the hidden blade is immensely satisfying in any of the best Assassin's Creed games. But it feels especially welcome in Edward Kenway's slick new remake given how challenging regular melee combat can be. It's precise art, "modernized" compared to the original as Resynced's technical director told me in an interview, but with just enough of that hitbox-based hack and slash flair to remain faithful to its old school roots. But there's one game in particular it reminds me of most. I'm impressed to say that Assassin's Creed Unity has been unseated as the unofficial king of finicky combat in the series as a whole.

Down but never out

As it turns out, a pirate's life is not always for me. It takes me a bit of practice to get comfortable with Edward's fighting style in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: it's built around parrying, dodging, and timely hits in between, with the opportunity to counter after performing a perfect guard or dodge.

Now this is all well and good when I have just one foe to focus on. There's a skill and finesse to combat here, something best approached with nimble thumbs on the joysticks and a sharp eye watching for blue warning flashes, alerting me to an imminent attack. Edward's sneaky dodge-rolls over foes' backs, powerful heavy attacks with his double cutlasses, and general pirate panache reminds me of Arno Dorian's different yet equally stylish fighting style in Paris-set Unity.

But unless he's using enemies as human shields when confronted with a mob, a swarmed Edward certainly suffers for his art. Given that's exactly how boarding ships after naval combat plays out – that's an awful lot of cutlass moshpits. Which is where the privateering gets shoved to the wayside for a touch of sneaky assassin charm.

Deploying my last smoke bomb in the midst of a heavy close-quarters firefight, I'm able to walk around the obscured bubble and quickly dispatch any baddie while they're distracted. Meanwhile, throwing out the rope dart with the right button on my D-pad lets me interrupt even red-flashing power attacks and rain down some pain with my own blades instead.

Bar Yasuke from Assassin's Creed Shadows, who was no assassin and didn't have access to hidden blades, I can't recall the last time a non-RPG Creed protagonist's personal fighting style felt so distinct from their assassin moves. There's a graceful, almost feline way about Arno's that lends itself well to assassin-like stealth. Evie Frye of Assassin's Creed Syndicate wields her cane sword just as elegantly, and even her tankier brother Jacob knows when and where to reign in the brawn and take to the shadows. When Edward Kenway is boarding your ship after peppering it with non-so-subtle cannonballs, you know he's coming.

Edward, with all his rough edges and swashbuckling privateer moves, is by far the least graceful hero of the bunch, and it shows in how he fights. He plays dirty and mean because that's how a pirate rolls, not to mention he's not really an official assassin at all to start out with. He doesn't operate by the Creed; he writes his own to suit his own needs.

Where does the original Black Flag rank among the best Assassin's Creed maps in terms of aesthetics and utility? Go find out...

Animal pelts, skins and hides in Black Flag Resynced are all an important part of how you improve both your maximum health and your ability to carry around ammo and equipment generally. However, finding animal pelts isn't easy, as you'll have to explore the world to find and hunt various creatures and critters, from deer to jaguars to monkeys. Fortunately, I'll show you where to find all the pelts and animal locations in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced below, as well as how to get them all quickly without even having to leave Inagua.

All animal hunting locations in Black Flag Resynced

Below we've laid out where to find every animal you can hunt in Black Flag Resynced, with coordinates and islands attached. When you reach the marked area, use your eagle vision to find and mark the animal nearby, and use common sense a little. Crocodiles are usually in water, while monkeys are usually up trees, and so on.

It's also worth remembering that certain animals behave differently in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced . For example, deer will flee, while jaguars will fight back and potentially kill you if you're not careful. Keep in mind when hunting them!

Once killed, just approach the animal and choose to "Skin" with the button shown to harvest the skin and bones. It doesn't matter how you kill an animal, they yield the same amount of rewards whether down by assassination, bullet, sword or blowgun.

How to get animal skins and pelts easily in Black Flag Resynced

Though you can hunt animals for free, there's another option: upgrade both the general store and treasure dealer in Great Inagua. Once upgraded, the merchant's store will allow you to buy any animal pelt and skin in exchange for bones (the cost changing depending on their rarity.

Bones can be obtained by killing any animal in the game, but you can also buy them for 5000 Reales each from the Treasure Dealer, once unlocked. This leads to a straightforward cash-for-bones-for-skins arrangement that isn't cheap, but is at least highly efficient, especially if you're flush with cash in the late game. You can also spend some of your pelts at the Treasure Dealer to earn special Black Flag Resynced Outfits!

For animals you can treat slightly better, here's how to get all the Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced pets. Or while you're hunting for animals, hunt for the different Black Flag Resynced Treasure Maps too!

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Line up Arno Dorian, Jacob Frye, and Ezio Auditore, and they'd all have something Edward Kenway does not: being likeable blokes. The Welsh pirate was never meant to be a decent guy from the off. As an aimless drunk trying to find himself in the West Indies after royally fumbling the bag when it comes to his estranged wife back in Bristol, that offputting loser vibe was already there in the 2013 original. But it has to be said that while Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is an absolutely gorgeous and incredibly fun new game, it magnifies its protagonist's asshattery by dragging out his redemption arc for an unbearably long time.

I get it. We all love a rehabilitated bad boy, as anyone who plays dishonorable Arthur up to a certain point in Red Dead Redemption 2 will tell you. But, unlike a gruff outlaw atoning for his none-too-egregious sins at the dawn of a new world order, Black Flag Resynced gives me very little to root for in Edward. His personality traits are money, dubloons, and reales, and I am so very bored of it. How is it possible that over five hours and four sequences into the remake, I'm still rolling my eyes at a very two-dimensional anti-hero, waiting for the moment he starts feeling worth the emotional investment?

Ye olde frat bro

I've been trying to work out why I am so repulsed by Edward Kenway's character in Black Flag Resynced. Maybe I just hadn't noticed it before, and seeing such a faithful remake has exposed how simplistic the character has always been: from the faded leathers to the alcoholism, near-constant money-grubbing, and self-aggrandized dreams of rising above the derision he'd faced in the "old world", Edward is a stereotypical wannabe pirate. So much so, it starts to feel forced.

Others in the game recognize that. His friend Vane sneers at Edward’s twisted view of piracy, how he views it as a means to an end rather than an earnest movement for complete freedom from the shackles of Crown, Country, and Colony. James Kidd notes his equally shallow motives for dealing with Templars initially, Edward's interest piqued by the promise of a snazzy new get-up. There's also the matter of his most un-pirate-like commitment to his estranged wife back home. He intends to win her back with a fortune amassed as a temporary pirate, rendering him little more than a well-connected tourist in the West Indies.

Resynced does a great job of highlighting how hard Edward's intentions have been clocked from the start. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is still righteous, Kidd remarks mildly, but it's clear that Edward's self-interest immediately grates on his companions very early on.

Only for me, it's not that early on. Six hours into Black Flag Resynced, Edward is still a goofy, greedy caricature of a peg-legged pirate, lacking only a Pretty Polly parrot on his shoulder squawking for a cracker. I'm starting to wonder if it's not the game that's making his simplistic bad boy era drag on for so long, but the way I'm approaching its new spatial parameters.

Thanks to being rebuilt in the powerful Anvil game engine, one of the most exciting tech advancements seen in Resynced is the seamless open world. As soon as I gain access to a ship of my own, I'm free to cut about Havana as I please – which means that I'm taking too long to get stuff done.

Too cool for charm school

The original's tight, linear narrative pacing has been well and truly let off its leash in Resynced. There are plenty of islands to explore (though the maps therein are quite limited), a vast ocean I can freely dive into at any time for some treasure hunting, and I can even indulge in a spot of harpoon fishing when a compass marker pops up. Then there's sea shanties to collect after chasing down sheet music over rooftops, Helix glitches to explore alternate timelines, pirate contracts, brief in-world events, and a host of side quests after unlocking Edward's island hideout.

All this is excellent, because I adore exploring the best open world games and letting myself get sidetracked, yet I can already feel how it's damaging my journey through the story as a player. I have to keep reminding myself that this is not an RPG. I could storm all the main early-game quests (is six hours still early game?!) to keep myself on the straight and narrow, but am too much of a magpie not to get pulled off-course.

Why would I jump straight into the next mission when I could go climb every vantage point in sight, something I do in many of the best Assassin's Creed games to open the world up before I get stuck in? Resynced's biggest problem is that it trusts me, the player, far too much to let its story play out as intended. As a result, I'm dragging out the worst of its hero.

Looking back at the stealth-action Assassin's Creed games, I don't recall ever feeling this much like a kid in a Havanaen candy shop. City-based Creeds have plenty of side quests, challenges, and collectibles, but the close-quarters element means I am never more than a few seconds away from fast-traveling to the nearest quest marker if I want to get back into the main story.

But as I set sail again for a distant island and pray to God I don't get swept up in another spot of naval warfare which was totally not my own fault, I realize that I have been intending to visit this map marker for the past thirty minutes to no avail. Resynced is almost too big and enticing to keep up the narrative momentum at times, meaning I am accidentally spending far longer in Edward Kenway's bastard era than I'd have liked. Help! My pirate game is too beautiful and distracting, and my lobster is too buttery!

I know that Edward Kenway's days in a pancake-flat pirate fantasy are numbered. His ego death is rapidly approaching, and embarking upon my first proper Templar Hunt, I am so very ready to see it. I don't know whether I love or hate Resynced's open world for being so good at its job that it makes an already unlikeable character even more of a tool, but I'm having such a good time getting lost in it that I can't even stay mad. Especially when, if I ever feel he is in need of karma points, I can send him out to feed chickens or pet cats to right the cosmic wrongs he inflicts upon myself and others (and his poor, poor wife).

Check out all the other upcoming Ubisoft games to anticipate next!

Outfits in Black Flag Resynced are purely cosmetic, but they're a way for Edward Kenway to show off his style and lean either into Assassin aesthetic, the classic pirate look, or everything between and beyond. There's plenty of clothing and outfits you'll get while doing the main story, but others require you to go off the beaten path and find various treasure chests or complete certain side quests. Below I'll show you how to get every outfit in the Assassin's Creed Black Flag Remake, as well as our pick for the best ones.

How to unlock all outfits in Black Flag Resynced

There 34 outfits in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, though some can only be unlocked in paid DLC. Below we'll lay out how to get all of them for yourself.

Best Outfit in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced

As mentioned, outfits in Black Flag Resynced have no mechanical function and it doesn't matter what outfit you wear, unlike in the previous game where they did have certain effects. That means you choice of outfit is fully dictated by fashion and personal preference as you explore Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, and the general vibe you want to give off. Speaking personally, I am enormously fond of Captain Morgan's Redingote, which is probably the most "piratey" outfit in the whole game.

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Ubisoft Barcelona – one of the development teams behind Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced – will be laying off 51 staff by the end of the month, one dev says.

In a post on LinkedIn (via Kotaku), Isabel Codina García, quality assurance/quality control lead at Ubisoft Barcelona, said yesterday, "Today is a bittersweet day."

She continues, "Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced releases today, the project I have been working on for the past 2.5 years. However, two weeks before launch, the whole AC team at Ubisoft Barcelona was informed of a collective redundancy plan."

The dev explains that Vantage Studios – the Ubisoft-Tencent conglomerate established last year – told the studio that there "will not be further mandates for the Barcelona studio, despite the team proposing new AC projects." As for the scale of the layoffs, she says "51 people, myself included, will be affected by the end of July."

The studio's LinkedIn lists it as being made up of "51-200 employees" with 119 of those employees being members of the site, so it seems a large chunk of the studio is set to be affected.

At the end of June, staff at Spanish union La Confederación General del Trabajo released a bulletin stating that Ubisoft Barcelona staff were going on strike (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz) over the proposed layoffs, with attempts to ensure that the 51 staff were retained, requests for job protection to prevent more mass layoffs for "a minimum of five years," a demand that already-agreed promotions be given, as well as the option to work from home.

Codina García adds, "After 7 years at Ubisoft Barcelona, this is not how I imagined it would end. But I am genuinely grateful for the people I have met and everything I have learned along the way."

Frustratingly, it's becoming increasingly common occurrence in the games industry that even if your projects are successful, that isn't enough for execs. Resynced is the fourth highest rated game in the series, saw the biggest Steam launch in the series, and will undoubtedly sell millions as a remake of the series' most beloved game.

And those making these decisions aren't the people affected even if the game somehow was a flop. But now, years of experience is leaving the studio, which will in turn leave future projects in a worse place, and more importantly, 51 people looking for work in an industry that feels like it is laying off far more often than hiring.

We have reached out to Ubisoft for comment on this situation, and will update should we receive a response.

Before you walk the plank and dive into the deep end of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, there's one early-game item that's a total time-saver for both prospective sailors (those who haven't started the game yet) and veteran pirate legends (those who are planning 100% completionist runs).

This being an Assassin's Creed game from the open-world fanatics at Ubisoft, Black Flag Resynced is expectedly massive. A full completionist run can easily take up to and over 60 hours to beat once you fold in all the enemy forts, sunken treasure, side quests, collectibles, and unlockable upgrades.

Worry not, freebooter, as there's a trinket called Exotic Sea Shells that can help shave that time down quite nicely. When equipped, Exotic Sea Shells "increases the wildlife products gained from skinning animals" – resources used for both unlocking upgrades and outfits.

Best part, you can find the trinket super early on. In southeast Havana, to be exact. To be even more exact, you can head to the coordinates 213, 568 and find a treasure chest containing the Exotic Sea Shells there. (Thanks, Game8!) As one fan puts it on Twitter, "this is one of the best trinkets you can get early" in the remake.

Grinding and hunting for pigs, let's say, should be over much quicker with a seashell necklace on hand (I love video game logic), as should getting all of the game's outfits and upgrades, which are tied to how many animals you can skin and how many sea beasts you can harpoon.

Just make sure you don't fall victim to a bug that can wipe hours off your Black Flag Resynced save file, OK?

You can read our Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced review to see our thoughts on Ubisoft's new remake and see if it's up there with the series' best Assassin's Creed games.

The Black Flag Resynced Salt Lagoon treasure is quite well-hidden, overshadowed by a massive rock formation on the small island. This is one of the first treasure maps you can complete in Black Flag Resynced, and it's surprisingly easy to miss dig prompt. If you're still very early in Edward's journey, you'll definitely want to dig this treasure up for a nice pouch of Reales too, I've explained precisely where to go to dig up the Salt Lagoon treasure below.

Black Flag Resynced Salt Lagoon treasure location

The Salt Lagoon treasure from the map found on Abaco Island is located at 719,607, just south of the tall rock formation on the northwestern beach.

This dig spot can be quite easy to miss compared to some of the other buried treasure spots – make sure you get right up to the green ferns growing by the tall rock – but unearth the buried chest and you'll get the Serpent Figurehead Design Plan for the Jackdaw and 3,000 Reales.

Treasure is normally a bit easier to find than this, but our Black Flag Resynced Treasure Maps guide details where to find every bit of treasure, so that you can easily find and plunder every dig spot.

Otherwise, there are a few other things you can do and find on Salt Lagoon to complete the checklist: one Viewpoint, one chest, and one secret, and you need to hunt a deer. The Viewpoint is on the end of the bowsprit of a wrecked ship on the southwest beach; the chest is in the sea off the south beach and contains 1,000 Reales; and the secret is another treasure map on the northeast side of the beach. Finally, deer are found towards the middle of the island.

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Is Black Flag Resynced coming to Xbox Game Pass, and if so, when will it be? The Assassin's Creed series as a whole has a pretty reliable history of coming to the Game Pass subscription system, but with business challenges for both Ubisoft and Xbox recent months, it's worth looking to see if that's likely to be reappraised any time soon.

Is Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced coming to Xbox Game Pass?

No, the Black Flag remake is not currently on Xbox Game Pass, and there's not yet been any sign of when or if it will be added.

However, it's worth acknowledging that most previous Assassin's Creed games have been added to Game Pass some time after release, though this doesn't include 2025's Assassin's Creed Shadows at time of writing, so we can't say that it's a definitive guarantee, or at the very least may take a while for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced to be added.

That being said, you can play the original from 2013 on Game Pass, if all you need is some form of Edward Kenway's adventures. Our own Black Flag Resynced review felt uncertain about whether it truly outshone the acclaimed original, so it's possible you might get the better experience from going back to the first incarnation.

If you're a PC gamer, it's also true that you can get Black Flag Resynced as part of the Ubisoft+ Subscription service, as long as you get the Premium subscription.

If you're getting into Edward's adventures, you might want to know how long it takes to beat Black Flag Resynced, so we've laid out some estimated completion times for you. And if you want to know how it differs from the 2013 original, check out all the Black Flag Resynced changes.

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Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is finally here, and it's not doing so bad so far – but it's safe to say there's one thing folks aren't too thrilled about in Ubisoft's revamped adventure.

Unsurprisingly, it's the price of the game… and its optional microtransactions. If you have a quick look at Steam, you'll find that the game has "Mostly Positive" reviews so far in English – and "Mixed" overall.

That's not bad, per se, with various fans praising the remake for how faithful it remains to the original and the fact that it's "super fun" to play. Over on the more negative end of things, players also aren't really criticizing performance. Sure, there are a couple of comments on the game's frame rate and the like here and there, but it's mostly all about money. After all, if you add up every optional purchase, you'll get some $84 or so.

As one reads, "Releasing a 70-euro game and on the DAY of the release you slap us with 85 euros worth of DLC packs that are just not cosmetic but give you a gameplay advantage," adding: "I will be refunding!" Interestingly, Ubisoft actually responds to such negative reviews directly.

It's always the same cut-and-paste response, too – at least to reviews regarding Resynced's price and microtransactions.

"We've seen your feedback since launch, and we're reading all of it," writes Ubisoft. "Thank you for caring this much about Black Flag Resynced. We want to be clear on one point: the standard edition is the full, complete experience. Every mission, every island, the full story, and the complete world are all there, with nothing held back."

Ubisoft concludes: "The additional packs are entirely optional extras for players who want them, never a requirement to enjoy or complete the game. We'll keep listening as you play!"

It's certainly an interesting reply – but I'm not sure it's enough to change fans' minds about optional purchases and the like. It does, however, line up with what the developer and publisher has said in the past about microtransactions.

Last year, Ubisoft declared that microtransactions help players "experience more fun" – a controversial statement, to say the least.

It's important to note, though, that in the case of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, the studio is replying to positive feedback as well. It's not a case of simply sweeping issues under the rug, I'd say. In one such comment, Ubisoft says, "We wanted to thank you for your positive review."

The devs state they've "poured our hearts and souls into that remake, & we are fans of the original game too. So reading some positive reviews matters more to us than you would think."

I'm personally interested in seeing how the game continues to perform, honestly – it's likely we'll witness some patch drops here and there, and perhaps a higher rating on Steam as more fans get into Ubisoft's new remake.

Be sure to check out our Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced review to read our thoughts on the remake, or our list of the best Assassin's Creed games to see how we rank the rest of the series.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has only just set sail, but the pirate romp has already left its predecessors in the wind and is now enjoying the biggest Steam debut in series' history.

Despite having released only a few short hours ago, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has already courted over 99,000 concurrent players on Steam, according to SteamDB stats – that number shoots up by a couple thousand every few minutes, so don't expect it to fully settle anytime soon, either.

Last year's Assassin's Creed Shadows previously held that honor with a peak that sits just over 64,000. For context, the lush and hilariously horny Assassin's Creed Odyssey attracted a peak of 62,000, while the sandy epic Assassin's Creed Origins held a peak of 41,000.

The original Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag's record was also absolutely demolished in no time at all – its peak of 16,000 or so players was passed within the blink of an eye, though that game's PC port came a month after its initial PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U release in an era when Steam's audience wasn't as monstrously large.

Many of Ubisoft's other Assassin's Creed games also had inconsistent releases on Steam, too. One of the biggest games in the entire series, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which only peaked at about 19,000 players, didn't actually come to the platform until years after it first hit consoles and the Epic Games Store, for example, so they're not all competing on a level playing field. That is the pirate way, I suppose.

Despite the various asterisks you could place on the new series record, Black Flag Resynced is hitting huge Steam numbers no matter how you look at it. Perhaps not a surprising turnout considering the acclaim and nostalgia that's followed the original piratventure.

If you happen to be part of the mass flooding Ubisoft's revamped high seas, look out for an Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced bug that could potentially wipe a couple hours off your save file.

The Black Flag remake might have the other games in the series beat here, but check out how it fared on our list of the best Assassin's Creed games ever. You can also read our Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced review to find out if it's worth playing.

How long it takes to beat Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced will entirely depend on how you like to play, whether you like to stick to the main quest or want to leave no stone unturned in the Caribbean. Clocking in at bit over 30 hours on average, Black Flag Resynced isn't all that different to the original in case you were expecting a big expansion. With that, I've laid out some estimates for how long it takes to beat Black Flag Resynced below for different playstyles.

How long is Black Flag Resynced?

From my experience playing Black Flag Resynced and that of some other members of the GamesRadar+ team, you should expect to sink roughly 35 hours for an average playthrough, one that takes in a bit of everything before rolling the credits on Edward's story. But, as ever, your completion time depends on how you play:

• Focused on critical path: 25-30 hours
• Main quest and side activities: 30-40 hours
• 100% completion: 50-60 hours

If you're only interested in Edward Kenway's story as he tries to make the pirate life work in the Caribbean, you'll likely spend 25 hours or so playing through it – with no essential modern-day sections to play, the story is a bit more streamlined, and you can read about the other changes in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced here. You may be able to get through the main quest in under 25 hours if you're particularly dedicated and you're playing on the easiest difficulty settings, but with important upgrades systems to manage for the Jackdaw, it's difficult to play through the whole thing quickly without dipping into at least some side activities.

Alternatively, if you want to see everything Black Flag has to offer, you're looking at spending around 50 hours – perhaps a bit less if you're efficient. With plenty of Forts to destroy, upgrades to unlock, Black Flag Resynced Treasure Maps to dig up, and side quests and contracts to complete, there is a lot to do beyond seeing Edward's story through to the end. And the endgame-level Black Flag Resynced Legendary Ships will require you to have all the Black Flag Resynced Ultimate ship upgrades applied to the Jackdaw.

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Rousing seafaring anthems are as vital to Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced as they are in the original, but sea shanties do not exist in isolation. Waves crash rhythmically against the hull as birds join the chorus of voices on-deck. Wind snaps the large black sails to and fro, a meditative drum beat as The Jackdaw journeys across Dry Tortuga. It's everything I remember from Black Flag, only better.

"I think that's one of the good things about a remake: that there was a blueprint that we could follow." Sitting down with Ubisoft's Erik-Jon Evangelista, audio director for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, it's clear this is a blueprint he knows intimately. He's been with Ubisoft since 2012, having served as an audio designer for the original Black Flag and 10 others among the best Assassin's Creed games, but Resynced is a very different beast.

"It's an iconic game, so we had to be faithful and familiar, but not necessarily the same. So I tasked my team with three different things – three different pillars: to recreate, elevate, then innovate."

One more, with keeling

The first of those three pillars – recreation – is where it all starts. Presented in the brand new Anvil engine, much of the original sound assets had to be remade for Resynced.

"It really wasn't a cut and paste job, something that we could just port over," Evangelista says. "It was showing its limitations based on the current hardware of that time, so we wanted to make sure that we leveraged and took advantage of [Anvil]" – for example, in creating realistic spatial soundscapes using physics-driven Doppler effects – "while at the same time being faithful to the original. So, one example was with music.

"I'm not going to change Brian Tyler's music – it's iconic, it's familiar," Evangelista says, meaning elevation was off the table here. Rather, Evangelista sought to work around the limitation of some tracks being "short and possibly repetitive, depending on the difficulty level you play at." I'm reminded of the combat stings of Assassin's Creed Unity, how frequently (and sometimes comically) the combat music would stop and start after the most minor scuffle.

"I wanted to make sure that we modernized it and innovated in a way that was still familiar, and that was to implement a system that had the music react to gameplay animations or stabs, in this case." This responsiveness is clear in game; at the end of my first boss battle, I hear the music growing louder, more urgent, desperate to reach its crescendo as I hurl smoke grenades at Templar Du Casse's feet. When my Hidden Blade hits home, the backing track mirrors that instant relief.

It makes for incredibly cinematic encounters, more immersive than anything I remember hearing and feeling in the original Black Flag. "It was a time before John Wick," Evangelista reflects. "Now, you can't not think of action being tagged to music, so I wanted to be able to try to do something like that because of how dynamic it is. This makes very familiar music have a very different experience per player."

Many unique actions are tagged to specific character actions and movements, including stealthy Hidden Blade takedowns. "If you played without ever doing takedowns, you'll just hear the music as it was, but if you do a lot of takedowns, you may never really hear the music in the same way."

The sound of pirates

Returning to Black Flag, Evangelista brought more experience to its all-important sea shanties. "My team here was in charge of making the shanties on the long ship for Valhalla," Evangelista says as an example. "I'm definitely leaning on the experiences that I've had previously, and I think part of what we do is being able to make a sonic signature for the game, regardless of whether it's a remake or it's a new game."

Everything from the Spanish songs of the Havanaean NPCs to the more Euro-centric language and subject matter of the sea shanties – and Evangelista's favorite track "at the end of Stede Bonnet's questline" – point to a specific historical context in the 1700s West Indies. But it's the subtle layers of environmental texture that root players in a specific time and place.

"Sound that is tied to gameplay, whether it's by player input or from something that happens in the world that the player can hear, tends to have the highest value," Evangelista says, with the goal being to "create the illusion of you being in a very specific geographical position." Think again of the wind whistling past the Jackdaw as the crew breaks into song, one sound complementing the other to achieve a far more powerful scene-setting effect than either in isolation.

Method and the madness

But with all the recreation, elevation, and innovation on the table in Resynced, some things stay the same. Like, the sound of Edward drowning.

"Edward's drowning voice is me!" Evangelista exclaims, to mine and our Ubisoft PR's surprise. "We were in charge of the underwater [environments] back then, so all the swimming sounds and everything was done by myself and another audio designer.

"When it came to drowning sounds, I clearly didn't drown, right, but it's more of the fact that we had to make sure that it sounded like I was struggling." For this, Evangelista stuck his head in a barrel of water and choked. "I could only do like three max [gulps] before I had to come up for air and go down again. We used hydrophones to be able to record those, but they needed to be at like a depth of at least like two meters-ish, so that at least you don't hear the bubbles pass by and pop [on the surface]" – which would shatter the illusion of Edward drowning in more than a few inches of water.

"Back then I recorded it as an audio designer, and as audio director now, I'm keeping it!"

It's subtle sound design choices like these that make a game feel grounded in reality, and if drowning for your art was commitment personified back in 2013, it's almost expected of game developers in 2026.

"I think there's a lot more appreciation for not just music, but how sound also makes people feel in games these days," Evangelista notes. It does feel like every month another touring video game concert is announced, from Death Stranding: Strands of Harmony to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Painted Symphony. How does it feel to see game audio design finally having its moment just as Resynced drops anchor?

"What a time to be in," Evangelista laughs. "I'm used to people not noticing audio. Like, 'no news is good news,' and if they mention it, it means that you've been found out, or you've been noticed. We're usually like quiet ninjas in the background. We teach the player a language that helps them to comprehend gameplay feedback – setting, size, scale. I'm glad we have an audience that appreciates that nowadays."

What's next for the publisher? Here's all the upcoming Ubisoft games we know of right now.

Blackbeard's treasure map in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is given to you partway through the game after a story mission called "Do Not Go Gently", but finding where it leads and where you need to dig isn't necessarily the easiest thing. Unlike the other Black Flag Resynced Treasure Maps, this one doesn't have marked coordinates to tell you where to start looking. Instead you need to interpret the scratches and scribbles on the map until you work out where you're supposed to go, and once you're there you need to solve a series of puzzles and challenges until you can find Blackbeard's treasure. I'll lay it out below with a comprehensive walkthrough that shows you how to find Blackbeard's treasure and complete the side quest.

How to solve Blackbeard's Treasure Map in Black Flag Resynced

Blackbeard's Treasure Map, obtained after the Do Not Go Gently mission in the main story, is directing you to go to Anotto Bay, the Smuggler's Den found at coordinates 590, 245.

We'll go into more detail about what to do once you're below, but keep in mind that you can't find Blackbeard's Treasure until you first obtain the map. If you're earlier in the game and have yet to uncover it, you can enter Anotto Bay, but you can't complete the steps for Blackbeard's Treasure until you actually get the map from him.

How to find Blackbeard's Treasure in Anotto Bay in Black Flag Resynced

Once you reach the Bay, there's still a way to go before you can reach Blackbeard's Treasure. Here's the full series of steps.

1. Swim to coordinates 591, 249 and dive downwards. You should see an underwater tunnel you can swim into. A jellyfish floats nearby, which serves as a visual marker.

2. Swim into the tunnel and dodge the shark that lunges at you. Follow it around and up until you finally reach a section you can climb up through into a small cave with a complaining pirate.

3. Dive back into the water ahead and keep following it around, using the wood beam boosts until you climb up into a cave lair with a smuggler's chest (if you've been to Anotto Bay before, this is where it normally ends).

4. This area is full of enemies. Clear them out, then pick up one of the small red powderkeg barrels in the middle and place it near the collapsed cave on the East wall. Shoot it from a distance to clear the cave-in and allow you to progress.

5. This tunnel will lead you to a huge cave full of more enemies, including another complaining pirate. Take them out so you can do the next step.

6. Get another small powderkeg from the entrance to this larger cave, and place it at the top of the raised path on the right of the waterfall. Shoot it to blow open a new cave.

7. Enter the new cave to find a chest inside and complete this quest!

What is Blackbeard's Treasure?

If you want to know if this whole sidequest is worth doing and if Blackbeard's Treasure lives up to the legend... Well, that depends on whether you're in this for the gameplay or the story. Finding the chest leads to a cutscene wherein it's revealed that the "Treasure" is the farming and infrastructure supplies needed to make the Great Inagua hideout self-sustaining, effectively giving them the chance to try again at the free paradise that Nassau failed to be. If you go back to Great Inagua, there's a final step to complete the side quest and alter the landscape of the town, though this has no gameplay effect as far as I can see.

Blackbeard does mention that he had other treasure, but no map leads to it. At time of writing it appears as though there's basically no way to get the rest of his loot, and it will remain forever hidden.

Make yourself the best possible pirate with our guide on how to destroy all the Black Flag Resynced Legendary Ships here! Or to make a little more money, find out how to conquer the Black Flag Resynced Naval Convoys as easily as possible!

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Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is sailing into harbour, which means a bounty of goodies and gadgets to game with. Art books, replicas, wallets, there are even Assassin's Creed slippers to get cosy with while you sail the high seas.

PureArts, Titan Books, and Ubisoft's own kit is all rolled into this kit list of the best Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced merch, perfect for those still finding their sea legs and salty veterans returning to the oceans once again.

Of course, Edward himself features quite prominently here, but there's also plenty of booty for those after some more franchise-wide gadgets - a pack of AC-themed playing cards with a hidden blade in the box always goes down well.

You'll find all my top picks of the best Assassin's Creed merch to get you ready for Black Flag Resynced just below.

Be sure to check out our top Resident Evil merch or take a look at our favorite Pokemon merch.

I loved the original Black Flag back in 2013. After the wobbly Assassin's Creed 3, it reminded me why I fell in love with the open-world, parkour-focused stealth series in the first place. While that nostalgia was enough to carry me through Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, the hundreds of hours of familiarity with the classic has also left me feeling like this ambitious remake – while good enough fun – missed the mark at truly living up to my memories, even while it tries very hard to be a faithful remake.

I detail some of this to what some might call an exhaustive degree in my full Assassin's Creed Black Resynced review – how removing some story and mechanical elements flatten aspects of the original, how the updated combat changes the pace of play, or how there's dissonance between enhanced stealth detection system and still very simplistic enemy AI. For the many ways it tries to remain as faithful as possible as a remake, it can trip over itself with what it changes, with each update that works for me matched by another that just feels off as a fan of the original.

It's alive!

The best thing about Black Flag Resynced is that it's forced me to consider what I even want from a video game 'remake'. It's a definition that can sometimes feel hazy among an industry filled with remasters, ports, and definitive editions – especially when there's little consensus over what can separate titling or marketing a release as a remaster or a remake between publishers. To me, a video game remake means a partial if not full rebuild of a core part of the game.

Black Flag Resynced skews so close to the 2013 original that I've already seen some confusion around whether it's a remake or a remaster, and at a quick glance I can't blame anyone. Ubisoft say it's definitely a remake, and that it's been "fully remade from scratch" – but, level geometry is often one-to-one, despite the huge graphical overhaul and some tweaks to density and elevation. Keep playing, though, and it becomes apparent that fights feel very different to swashbuckle through, that you can now crouch-walk anywhere, mission objectives can diverge when you mess up instead of resulting in instant failure, and much more (including the complete removal of the original's modern day story sections).

The differences hounded me throughout play – especially as I replayed chunks of the original to remind myself through the review process. Despite Black Flag Resynced definitely being prettier (if, at times, a bit too dark at night), I prefer the snappier combat of the original. And I don't like that some story content is removed. The more I played, the more I kept thinking about Ubisoft's promise for Black Resynced to be "faithful", and couldn't help but wonder if what that means to me compared to the developer is just not the same thing. More power to you if you never played the original and love this – I agree the foundations are solid – but I still think it's worth critically examining the differences. When the f-word is deployed, it naturally positions a remake as a sort of replacement, even if unintentionally.

The problem with pursuing a faithful remake is that there are fine degrees between pulling it off, and simply feeling off. To me, Demon's Souls on PS5 is close enough to the original thanks to leveraging the original code, and the dark fantasy visual overhaul is welcomed compared to the muddier PS3 source material. For others, that aesthetic shift undermines a gaming experience they hold dear. That's totally valid. Likewise, Black Flag Resynced's many changes, even small ones, alter moment-to-moment play enough where even with the same mission structure and map design, it doesn't feel faithful to me – at times this can be an improvement, at many others, I dislike it. Good game or not, it fails as a faithful remake when I end up feeling that way.

Even though I still love the likes of Demon's Souls or Metal Gear Solid Delta, the more remakes I play in a gaming generation inundated with them (with constantly inflating AAA gaming budgets, and more profits required than ever, why bother with risk?), I'm beginning to think I don't want remakes beholden to faithfulness. Too often, it can be a poison to the game's design.

I much prefer iteration. Just as I love me a spiritual successor to a gaming great, like Jet Set Radio being succeeded by the indie developed Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, I like to feel that same energy in a remake. Resident Evil 4 remake isn't simply redoing the 2004 original, it's using what made it great as a springboard to try something that's a fresh take on the same blueprints, being willing to accept stumbling in the process in the name of creativity. It's as much homage as it is a remake, and, in other mediums like film, that's very much the point.

There's a reason 1998's Psycho feels so strange as a short-for-shot remake. More often great movie remakes aren't simply for the sake of re-releasing the original, but a way of continuing the cinematic conversation. Sometimes the results can be diabolically bad (2024's The Crow jumps to mind), but it's still a creative swing – dialogue in the medium.

Resident Evil 4 remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are great examples of turning a remake into an opportunity to also try something new. In doing so, they've defined Capcom and Square Enix's successful approach to remakes while also reshaping how they approach brand new game development. It's doubtful Resident Evil Requiem would be the way it is without the connective tissue re-exploring star Leon Kennedy's past brought to the fore. They've brought fresh life into their long-running series that were otherwise treading water.

I can't help but wonder if Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced had taken a bigger swing, if Edward Kenway would have a better grasp of the rudder and be able to steer the franchise into a fairer wind. For now, the upcoming Assassin's Creed Hexe will have to do the job. But, for other series eyeing up remakes, I hope they're able to keep the conversation going rather than just end up repeating themselves.

Remake or not, our best Assassin's Creed games ranking will guide you to which historical adventure deserves your time next.

To repair your ship in Black Flag Resynced, you need to either pay up with Reales while you're in a port, or plunder enemy ships. Both have their drawbacks, but it's important to know how they work and how the crew can help you keep the Jackdaw in working order between battles on the high seas in Black Flag Resynced. To help you out, I've explained the two main ways to repair your ship below.

How to repair the Jackdaw

There are two ways you can repair the Jackdaw in Black Flag Resynced, which are as follows:

• Visit a Harbourmaster and pay for repairs: The Jackdaw will be instantly repaired to full health after you pay 250 Reales per section in need of repairs. Due to the passive health regeneration mentioned further down, you will only ever have to pay for a maximum of two section to be repaired, so a full repair should never cost more than 500 Reales.
• Successfully board an enemy ship and select the Repair option: Doing so restores the Jackdaw's health by a significant amount but seems to be capped at two full sections, so it might not fully repair the ship.

The Jackdaw also has limited passive health regeneration which kicks in whenever you're not in combat. Your crew will repair the ship's health up to the next section, so if you've taken heavy damage, you'll need to use one of the above methods to get the Jackdaw back up to full health.

If you find that the Jackdaw keeps getting destroyed or severely damaged to the point of needing lots of repairs, make sure you focus your upgrading efforts on the hull, bolstering the ship's maximum health (it's also probably a good idea to get some pointers on how things like Black Flag Resynced Naval Convoys work). That makes each of the health bar's three sections sturdier, and means you'll be saving Reales on repairs.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Be warned, fellow landlubbers and prospective high seas plunderers, legend says a curse comes buried with the treasure known as Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resycned - in the form of a bug that might wipe a few hours from your save file, that is.

Ubisoft's remade and revamped open-world adventure is rolling out on PC and consoles today, meaning plenty of game reviewers have been poking around its oceans for a while now, but one noted journalist caught a pesky bug that apparently snuck onboard the full launch.

The Game File's Stephen Totilo put out a public service announcement last night on social media, warning that "if you're playing Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, do not leave any Templar Hunt sidequest chains unfinished" because "it produced a glitch that cost me five hours of playing time." Aside from losing five hours at sea, "the game's really fun and some of the new bits are interesting in unexpected ways," he writes.

For the specifics on how to encounter the bug - and, thus, how to avoid it - Totila says he was "several quests into the Templar Hunt in Kingston, had left the region to play other parts." He then eventually "triggered a main story mission in Kingston," only to find that the Templar Hunt quests and the main quests apparently "blocked each other."

A Ubisoft representative reportedly told Totilo that the team has identified the bug and is working on a fix that should arrive in an upcoming update. There's no time frame as to when the bug might finally be squished, so be extra careful if you're planning to jump in later today.

As for GamesRadar+'s Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced review, we called it "a decent remake of a great game" that can unfortunately "feel a bit rudderless."

Does Resynched have what it takes to top our list of the best Assassin's Creed games ever?

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Naval Convoys can be quite a serious challenge early on since you've got to fight multiple ships at once. But given how common these convoys are in Black Flag Resynced, and that they're a great opportunity for getting ship-based loot and plenty of Reales thanks to the Captain's Lockbox, knowing how best to tackle them is essential pirate knowledge. With that, I've explained exactly how these Naval Convoys work below, so that you can plunder the seas with ease.

How to complete Naval Convoys in Black Flag Resynced

To complete a Naval Convoy event in Black Flag, you need to board and successfully commandeer the lead ship in the convoy – that's the largest ship leading the way. The lead ship has at least two smaller escort ships which don't need to be destroyed, but as the tips further below explain, it's probably best to sink them.

To board and seize the lead ship, you need to damage the lead ship until it is immobilized, at which point you can sail the Jackdaw alongside and begin a boarding action by following the button prompt (hold Triangle/Y). Once you've swashbuckled your way on board, start reducing the morale of the enemy ship, by killing the enemy crew; cutting the flag, which can be done by climbing to the top of the main mast and following the button prompt; and destroying gunpowder stores on deck, though not every ship has these – just make sure you don't blow you and your crew up when you shoot these.

Once morale has been reduced entirely, the convoy crew will surrender and you'll be presented with the usual boarding action choices, as well as the Captain's Lockbox:

• Get Captain's Lockbox: This provides additional loot on top of your current earnings. From my experience, the additional rewards tend to be extra Reales and sometimes crew members. Unless you absolutely must choose a different option, you should always choose this to get greater rewards.
• Repair: Recover a portion of the Jackdaw's health.
• Send to Kenway's Fleet: If you have an empty fleet berth, you can add this ship to Kenway's Fleet, letting you send it on missions around the Caribbean to get you extra resources.
• Lower Wanted Level: Reduce your Wanted Level, lowering the risk of Pirate Hunters tracking down the Jackdaw.

Black Flag Resynced Naval Convoy tips

There's a good chance that you've been scuttled by one of these convoys in Black Flag Resynced as they're quite tough, especially early on, so here are some tips for making them as easy as possible:

• Upgrade the Jackdaw: The reason Naval Convoys are tough at first is because the Jackdaw is far too weak for fighting multiple ships at once, especially if the enemy ships are rated three stars or higher. Visit Harbourmasters often and buy whatever upgrades you can, especially the ones that improve broadside cannons, the mortar, and the hull to make the Jackdaw stronger in both offensive and defensive capacities. Any Black Flag Resynced Ultimate ship upgrades will help a lot
• Target the escort ships first: These smaller ships can be annoying if not dealt with first and will wear down the Jackdaw to the point of sinking while you're distract by the lead ship. Start the engagement with a well-placed mortar shot on one or both escorts and, with enough mortar upgrades, you might even destroy both ships, taking them out of the fight before it's even started.
• Board the escort ships: Again, it's not essential that you board these ships, but it's a good idea to do so, giving you opportunities to get more loot and either repair the Jackdaw or reduce your Wanted Level to keep Pirate Hunters from interrupting. I almost always opt for repairs to ensure the Jackdaw has as much health as possible when going to attack the lead ship. Bear in mind that shooting or ramming immobilized ships instead of boarding grants reduce rewards too.
• Use the swivel guns when preparing to board: Once Edward releases the ship's wheel as you prepare to board, run immediately to the swivel guns either side and start firing shots at any red barrels or enemy crew members. Assuming you land your shots, you'll reduce their morale a fair bit before you've even properly boarded.
• Cut down the flag if you don't want to fight: Cutting the flag at the top of the main mast is a great way to reduce enemy morale significantly without having to be in the thick of the fighting if that's not your thing. Just watch out for any snipers in the other masts as any shots that hit you mid-climb can cause you to fall off the mast.
• Remember to brace: Holding Square/X to get your crew to brace reduces the damage enemy cannonballs deal, so don't forget to use this ability rather than going purely on the offensive. If you've got the Black Flag Resynced Officer upgrade, Perfect Brace, timing your brace just before the cannonballs hit the Jackdaw's hull will substantially reduce the damage. Just keep an eye out for the orange glow of cannon fuses on enemy ships, meaning a volley is inbound.

You'll notice that these Naval Convoys become much easier as you get more upgrades and Officers for your crew, helping you get plenty more Reales and useful resources that you can sell. Some of these can traded with the Treasure Hunter in Great Inagua to piece together ruined Black Flag Resynced Treasure Maps.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced's Metacritic score makes it the fourth-highest-rated game in the Ubisoft series, but it hasn't outdone the original.

Over on Metacritic, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced currently sits at a score of 84 on PS5, based on 71 critic reviews. This score puts it in a comfy spot among the top 5 games in the series, ahead of Assassin's Creed 3's 84 and behind the beloved Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood, and original Black Flag, which have scores of 90, 89, and 88, respectively.

In the GamesRadar+ Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced review, games editor Oscar Taylor-Kent gives the game three-and-a-half stars out of five and says, "Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced isn't smooth sailing. Strong pirate adventure foundations and roguish charm keep this remake afloat, but it splashes between wanting to be faithful and wanting to make adjustments, not quite able to find an elegant middle ground between the two. Combined with bugs and other annoyances, this isn't the bold, confident swing its predecessor was, but still a fun outing."

Reviews for the game are mostly around the eight and nine area, with a couple of full marks from Dexerto and Loot Level Chill, while the game's lowest scores are still only categorized as "Mixed" by Metacritic, with a few six or seven out of 10 scores sprinkled among the rest. From the sounds of things, if you already enjoyed Black Flag or Assassin's Creed in general, you probably won't be let down by the remake of the series' best entry.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has "modernized the combat" of the original but is more "action-oriented" than Shadows

Officers in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced are a new feature wherein you can recruit new crew members onto the Jackdaw to unlock extra abilities for your ship. While there are a couple of Officers who are recruited as part of the main story and can't be missed, there are also a few optional officers who you'll need to find and recruit off your own back. Below I'll show you how to unlock every crewmember for the Jackdaw in Black Flag Resynced, as well as what ability each officer unlocks.

Warning: the following guide contains minor spoilers for the plot of Black Flag Resynced, but all details are kept to an absolute minimum.

How to Unlock all Officers in Black Flag

There are a total of 5 Officers for the Jackdaw in Black Flag, but only three are optional and unlock extra abilities. I've laid out how to get all of them below.

It's Deadman that's the late-game unlock, which arguably makes sense considering that his abilities are some of the best. However, if you want to prioritize one early on, you should definitely recruit Lucy Baldwin, as her defensive Perfect Brace power is a serious game-changer - ship battles and Black Flag Resynced Naval Convoys become noticeably easier with this ability alone!

It's also true that each optional Officer has a quest chain of three-to-four missions, though you need only complete the first one to add them to your crew.

All Officer abilities in Black Flag Resynced

I've explained all the abilities provided by the three optional Officers below and what they do when unlocked and added to your crew:

• Lucy Baldwin: Perfect Brace. Bracing just before you take damage massively increases the Jackdaw's resilience and reduces that damage even further. You won't need to repair your ship in Black Flag Resynced quite so much if you use this well.
• The Padre: Ram-Dash. Press L1+R1/LB+RB to charge the Jackdaw forward and do massive damage to the first thing it rams. Has a long cooldown.
• Tobias "Deadman" Smith: Extra Salvo and Cohort Mortar. When first recruited, Deadman adds an additional Salvo to your Broadside Cannons, increasing their firepower. However, after completing several of his missions and reaching the quest "Very Little, But Something", he also unlocks "Deadman's Cohort Mortar", an alternative fire mode for the Mortar that allows you to fire a stream of bombs.

If you plan on taking on the ultimate endgame challenge for the Jackdaw and its crew - the Black Flag Resynced Legendary Ships - you definitely need all of these officers and the best Black Flag Resynced ultimate ship upgrades too.

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The Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Sage and prison key are in the upper villa area of Torres' estate. Finding them isn’t too difficult, but the real challenge is trying to stay hidden to avoid a deadly battle with all the guards, especially if you're new to Assassin's Creed and Black Flag Resynced is your first stabby outing. Below, I've laid out the precise locations of both the Sage you need to rescue and the necessary prison key.

Black Flag Resynced Sage and prison key location

Both the Sage in Black Flag Resynced and the prison key are in the main villa area in the northern part of Torres' estate:

• Prison key: On the estate Warden, who can be initially found in the villa courtyard at 207,573.
• Sage prison cell: In the large square building in the northwest corner of Torres' estate, with the entrance at 204,575.

So, with this information in mind, the best way to complete rescue the Sage in Black Flag Resynced is to cross the plantation area and head up the stone steps in the southwest part of the estate, then head north towards the villa where you'll find a guarded gate. Climb over the wall to the left of the gate, then head east towards the villa. While not essential, you can also eavesdrop on some guards near the gate who mention the Warden mustering all the guards, so you can tail them towards the villa.

When you reach the villa, get onto the roof of the villa by climbing or using a lift (be aware of snipers up on the roof), then wait for the Warden to finish speaking to the guards. He'll then leave the courtyard and start patrolling the villa on his own, giving you plenty of opportunities to leap from the rooftops and assassinate him when no other guards are around. Loot the key from his body, then head over to the prison and unlock the door to complete the quest.

Just bear in mind that when you're skulking about trying to rescue the Sage in Black Flag Resynced, the estate is full of Spanish guards and alerting one or two of them may escalate into a large fight. Thankfully, there aren't any alarm bells for them to ring to bring the whole estate on you, which means that stealth isn't even essential, but it certainly makes things easier. Make good use of Eagle Vision (R3/RS) and aiming (L2/LT) to spot and mark guards; bushes and low walls to hide; whistling to lure guards over for assassinations; and smoke bombs to hide yourself and you'll get this quest done stealthily and smoothly.

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Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is an extremely faithful remake of Ubisoft's original 2013 open-world piracy adventure – except for the many ways in which it isn't. Returning to one of the best Assassin Creed games, and one of my all-timers, has been a treat – but it's also left me wrangling with where a full remake should start and stop. Like the sometimes sunny, sometimes stormy ocean on which protagonist Edward Kenway sails, what seems like a one-to-one remake has a lot more going on beneath the surface.

With no knowledge of the secret Assassin and Templar conflict running through the ages, Edward will take any opportunity for a leg up throughout Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. A shipwreck after the battle that hurls us right into the action? A way to get into the Templars' good grace for coin. Meeting the shadowy Assassins? Side-mission contracts allow him to earn money even as an outsider. Imprisoned on a treasure ship? A chance to fight back, and steal a captainage for himself, putting him on a level field with Nassau's pirate greats – from Blackbeard to Hornigold.

Live, laugh, Libertalia

Caribbean pirate sanctuary Nassau – able to flourish as the Spanish and English empires battle one another as they seize land from its native population – are about "liberty" to Edward, he explains. Meant to have set to sea from Bristol for "two at the most" years away from his wife Caroline in order to bring home enough success to elevate his station, he keeps extending that time away. Likewise, he struggles to understand the Assassin creed of "nothing is true, everything is permitted" as anything more than a self-centered permission slip. He's a man struggling to tread water, weighed down by his own selfishness, clawing for any sense of purpose or validation – caught in a whirlpool of conspiracy, his capacity for growth will be tested, a rogue element able to scuttle either the Assassin or Templar plans on a whim.

But, where Edward Kenway struggles with his own sense of purpose, the original Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag was confident in its own from the get-go. The fourth numbered game in the series, it took the best ideas of the divisive Assassin's Creed 3, and reimagined it as a large, open-world adventure merging parkour assassinations across numerous islands with tight naval combat and a sense of discovery. Innovative and bold, it's no exaggeration to say that for many – me included – this was a salve that got us reinvested in Assassin's Creed again, and proved that the Ezio trilogy that began in Assassin's Creed 2 was no fluke. But, in changing tides, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced lacks that same clear purpose.

Solid foundations buoy this remake, but it can feel aimless and adrift, at times too beholden to the original to excite, at others using modern series mechanics to not-quite replicate the original; and laden with annoying bugs, glitches, and jank. It's far from the first time an Assassin's Creed launch has been rough, but when it's a remake which, by its nature, implies a definitive quality, it can be extra grating. I've seen Edward lock-up after skinning an animal, float across the ground like a ghost, had quest markers disappear off the edge of the map, and enemies suddenly revive after a thorough stabbing – sometimes requiring loading past saves to fix.

While Black Flag Resynced is incredibly pretty – whether that's sun and glistening sea, cannon fire lighting up dense fog, or the terror of gigantic waves through a storm – the geometry of most areas is very similar to the original if not one-to-one. It's neat to feel the muscle memory return, but it does create a discordance between the stunning high-fidelity graphics that feel like a wrapper over the strict environments of the original.

It's a nice touch to be able to have an 'advanced parkour' toggle, though, again, like in the source material, all these islands' maps are quite small in terms of both square footage and height, so there's not many opportunities to really get into it. That even goes for the handful of built out cities, like Havana and Kingston, which felt small in the original and still do here. At the time, the tighter, island-centric approach was a smart reaction to AC3's overly large, empty cities and its massive frontier. Now, removed from that context, they just feel basic.

Some of the rethought and additional areas work well. Making Sacrifice Island part of the main map is wonderful, as is allowing you to exit one of Havana's gates where you can rob a new shore-side plantation and sneak through a fort only previously glimpsed from afar. Other islands have segments smartly rearranged to make traversal feel more natural. Nassau, for instance, is now hillier and denser, making it feel like more of a hive of scum and villainy while otherwise keeping the construction the same.

The ability to properly dive underwater at almost any location to explore is great (previously, you could 'stealth swim', a binary ability that simply plopped Edward out of sight below the waves), especially in how it seamlessly connects some diving sequences and Smuggler's Coves. These were present in the original, but felt delineated – this is a real spot in which Resynced uses new technology to better execute on the original's ideas.

Some island treasures have been shuffled around so you now dive for them just off the coast too, which is welcome variety. There's fewer treasure and collectible icons littering the map, but they're still present – now acting more as optional bonuses for going out of your way to investigate smoke or circling birds ashore. However, these rewards are often drab – insubstantial amounts of money, or the Animus currency used for the online 'exchange' store. Even if Edward comments on some environmental storytelling that's unfolded on an island, you can never interact with anything in a meaningful way – even if NPCs are still present.

Sequences across the swamps of Charles-Towne and the sweltering African island of Principe are, like before, their own small areas off the world map designed for specific missions, which feel like missed opportunities for further expansion.

It's disappointing as even its immediate sequel, the underrated Assassin's Creed Rogue, iterated upon some of Black Flag's ideas in neat ways – such as connecting various in-land maps with denser areas connected through multiple ports, which it felt like Havana was teasing before I realized the new zone is just one small addition. I constantly find myself wishing Resynced would play it less safe.

Sword and rope-cery

There are big changes, though. Black Flag Resynced's combat is very different. But, like Assassin's Creed Mirage, I can't help but feel like it's trying to retrofit some of the series' classic elements into a system not really designed to support it. The original's fights were simple, but snappy and satisfying as you chained together brutal executions, assassinations, and pistol shots. Here, with the addition of stun meters, clashes feel looser, more flaily.

Like in the original, counters open up a window for an instant takedown, but I've had constant moments where the inputs seem to drop, whether that's when chaining takedowns, or being next to a tripped enemy. Alongside shifting the one-button quickfire pistol to an ability wheel, combat feels a bit overcomplicated for as imprecise at it feels, and I ended up getting a bit sick of the constant fights which – when you're boarding enemy ships so frequently – is a big part of the game. Revisiting the original Black Flag while playing Resynced, I simply prefer the source material's combat, which is more dynamic and cinematic across multi-countering groups or the way the camera spins to frame each pistol shot Edward fires off.

Many of Resynced's headlining updates ended up mattering little to me in play. The visuals are pretty, but once I get refamiliarized with the maps I stop gawking at them, instead noticing the higher fidelity and intense shadows can lead to a lack of clarity with interaction points. New story quests across recruitable officers and beyond, don't feel particularly additive – in fact, their constant reiteration around Edward being a bit of a deadbeat for leaving his wife just over-salts it thematically.

Being able to crouch anywhere in stealth feels minor considering Edward would auto-crouch in the original in 'stalking zones' anyway, and though I'm told day/night, and weather affects enemy perception, the enemy AI is still very stupid on normal difficulty no matter what so it hardly matters (kill one in tall grass, and watch them keep coming into your killbox on yellow alert).

The four new 'modern' missions are disappointing as well, essentially being vision quests you wander through within the Animus Ego while fighting waves of enemies while being monologued at. It's a shame as the initial mission makes a good first impression, questioning Edward's inability to return home as you platform through impossible digitized spaces while doing an escort mission with his precious chest of loot. Additional modern day storytelling being relegated to lore notes, some of which are connected to a bizarre battle-pass-like currency track, are as horrible to engage with here as they were in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

It's disappointing, as Resynced isn't purely about adding things on or updating mechanics. There are cuts as well – and I don't just mean how Edward no longer does the delightful splish-splash 'knees-up' jog as he runs through shallow water. The original game's first-person modern storyline that cast you as a game developer working for evil Templar-front Abstergo has been excised entirely. The modern day storyline might not be for everyone and, admittedly, the plot threads set up in the original never had a satisfactory pay-off – but, then, wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to redress that?

Black Flag's modern day storytelling was some of the series' best. Not only that, but it's one of the only games in the series where the narrative directly connects between past and present, meaning that Black Flag Resynced simply doesn't close the loop on a major character's arc at all within the game's main story. In turn, it makes the narrative feel oddly paced, and its ending feels particularly sudden and unsatisfying.

The idea of optional objectives in main missions to accomplish 'full synchronization' has also been dropped. Beyond providing replay value (you can no longer replay missions from a menu), these additional challenges added narrative context for how Edward Kenway canonically approached each mission – one of classic Assassin's Creed's many unique modes of storytelling that the Animus wrapper provides.

This leads to at least one change where, previously, full synchronization with Edward required you to sneak through an Assassin encampment non-lethally. Now, without that encouragement, that portion of the mission simply replaces those Assassins with generic enemy guards. Not only does Resynced remove the joy of replaying a mission to tackle the friction of additional challenge, but it has the side effect of flattening Edward's characterization.

There's conflict within Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced in terms of how faithful it wants to be. Even a change as small as removing the mini-map, which makes sense given how you can now scan and tag foes like in the modern games, nevertheless affects how you interact with many missions compared to the original – especially in the returning Templar Hunt sidequests and in naval combat.

Other changes fare better. De-emphasizing tailing missions so you can find alternative ways to a target if you mess up removes a lot of the original's frustration. But, there are still a couple of missions in which you're still forced to play them in specific ways or you instantly 'desynchronize', or another that slapped me on the wrist for sneaking through to the mission objective in a different way than intended, and turned me around to have a ship battle instead.

It makes Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced far from smooth sailing, even though I love the original. Resynced both changes too much and not enough. Decent improvements are here that I'd still recommend it to a lot of players interested in a pirate adventure, but I also think moment-to-moment the original game remains enjoyable and has better combat and more interesting challenges (especially if you can play it on PC with a stable higher framerate) – leaving me in that tricky position of having no firm favorite. Black Flag Resynced is a decent remake of a great game, but can feel a bit rudderless – an unenviable position for any remake with so much to live up to.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced was reviewed on PS5, with a code provided by the publisher.

Looking for another big adventure? Our best open world games list will whisk you away to new digital worlds.

Should you play Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced?

Play it if...

You've never played Black Flag before

At its core, this is a great pirate adventure that anyone craving swashbuckling should play at some point, remake or not – whether you're a series fan or newcomer.

You want to replay a prettier, modernized version of Black Flag

With higher framerates on modern consoles, and gorgeous graphics, this is a stunner. If you've played the game before, differences in content won't mean you're missing anything, either.

Don't play it if…

Changing the original's content bothers you

With updated combat closer to the recent games, and the removal of some challenge objectives and story chapters, Resynced is different enough that returning fans may miss the original's quirks.

You'd rather play the cheaper original

Price isn't everything, but it can be a factor. Given not every change in this remake is an improvement, picking up the cheaper original is still a great option if you've not played it yet.

How does Black Flag Resynced compare to the rest of the series?

This is a remake of Assassin's Creed Black Flag, which remains one of my favorite games in the series thanks to the pirate vibes and strong sense of exploration, even if this is an imperfect recreation. Sticking closely to the original's mission structure and maps, this feels more like a classic entry than a modern one. Fans of the Ezio Trilogy are likely to find Edward Kenway a similarly charming rogue, and I personally still prefer these stealthy, tighter Assassin's Creed games to the larger, RPG-like entries like Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

The recent games' RPG elements have shaped some of this – with things like gear, and its parry and stun-bar heavy combat. But, there are no player or enemy levels, and all foes can be one-hit killed with proper assassinations.

How does Black Flag Resynced compare to other open-world games?

Based on a game from 2013, this remake features a gorgeous rendition of the Carribbean to sail your own ship around, with lots of collectibles and activities to keep you busy. But, its scope still feels like an older game.

Compared to more recent open world adventures like Crimson Desert or The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, or even Assassin's Creed Shadows, this is significantly more limited. But, in its own way, that focus can feel refreshing in a modern context.

To skip time in Black Flag Resynced – a new feature that wasn't in the original game – you just need to find a good, clear spot for Edward to sit down in, then you use the D-Pad to start passing the hours and change time from day to night. But there are a quite a few limitations to this system that Black Flag Resynced doesn't explicitly lay out, so I've explained everything I know about how to skip time in the game below.

How to pass time in Black Flag Resynced

To skip time in Black Flag, you must briefly hold down D-Pad Right, which will cause Edward to sit down on the spot and time to speed up. Note that skipping time always takes you to the morning or evening – whichever is next – and you have no control over what time Edward gets up from his hours-long contemplative sit-down.

Importantly, you can't initiate a time skip in Black Flag resynced while in combat or during quests. From experience, you also can't skip time while you're on anything other than solid ground, so no time-skipping while aboard the Jackdaw or in or near the sea. You also can't seem to skip time when any sort of potential threat is nearby, such as wildlife, or if you're near vendors and other NPCs that aren't just the standard population. Essentially, you need to find a relatively quiet spot for Edward to sit down and pass the time.

Despite being a new feature for Black Flag Resynced (you can read about all changes in Black Flag Resynced here), I've not really found any notable uses for skipping time other than if you simply don't want it to be day or night. If a quest requires a specific time of day, it'll skip time for you, such as the Black Flag Resynced Sage and Prison Key quest Claiming What's Due. Really the only reason that you may want to use this system is if you either find night time too dark and want to skip to daytime so that you can see, or you want to skip to night to make stealth marginally easier, as Edward is a little harder to spot in the dark.

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The Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced statue puzzles that you come across in the Mayan temple during "The Sage's Buried Secret" quest aren't especially difficult, but there are some sticking points. While each of these Black Flag Resynced puzzles is solved by repositioning some large statues and matching colors, each one layers on more mechanics than the last, making the third and final puzzle a bit of thinker. If you want to breeze through them all, I've laid out the solutions for all the Black Flag statue puzzles in this temple below.

How to solve the Black Flag Resynced statue puzzles

Climb your way across the chasm using the collapsed wall and gnarled tree roots on the left to reach the first statue puzzle:

1. Leap onto the red statue (or climb on top of it if you missed the jump for whatever reason). Edward's weight will lower the statue into place and open the first door.
2. Climb up the wall and onto the blue statue. Again, this will lower the blue statue, causing the second door to open and revealing the way ahead.
3. Proceed with James Kidd through the doorway to the next area.

Statue puzzle, part 2

The second Black Flag statue puzzle in this main quest, which uses the same mechanics as before but introduces a new turntable system:

1. Grab the capstan and rotate the turntable so that the red side is under the red statue on the left.
2. Climb onto the red statue so that it gets weighed down (you'll notice a counterweight statue moving up as you do this, which is important later). This will open the way to the next area.
3. Carry on following Kidd, including a short swimming section through some underwater cave tunnels.

Statue puzzle, part 3

After swimming through the caves and climbing up the temple with Kidd, you'll arrive at the final statue puzzle for this quest which brings in the ability to raise statues by climbing onto the nearby counterweight statues, allowing you to rearrange their positions on the turntable. While this puzzle is simply a case of moving all the statues to their corresponding positions on the turntable as before, here's the easiest way to do it:

1. Start by climbing onto the counterweight statue next to the blue statue (on the left side of the room) to lift the blue statue up.
2. Rotate the turntable counterclockwise once so that the blue section is under the blue statue, then climb onto the blue statue to lower it. This will complete the blue section and open the first door.
3. Rotate the turntable counterclockwise once, placing the red statue in the top-left section of the turntable.
4. Climb onto the left counterweight statue again to raise the red statue, rotate the turntable counterclockwise once again so that the red section is under the red statue, then climb the red statue to lower it into the matching section, opening the second door.
5. Rotate the turntable counterclockwise one more time, then climb onto the green statue to weigh it down into the green section.

Now you'll unlock the third door and launch into a cutscene to wrap up "The Sage's Buried Secret" quest! But if you've already started moving parts around for this puzzle, there is unfortunately no way to reset it so that you can follow the solution above unless you reload a previous save. Focus on just getting one statue in the correct colored section, and then the rest of the solution should become much more obvious until you can solve it.

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Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced finally arrives tomorrow, and according to analysts, it might just be the win that Ubisoft needs after the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake cancellation earlier this year.

There's no doubt that the Black Flag remake has garnered quite some hype from longtime Assassin's Creed fans, boasting everything from revamped visuals to entirely new areas to explore – and according to Rhys Elliott, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics, it may just turn things around for Ubisoft with its potential success.

The analyst explains as much in a new post on his Substack, first looking back at the developer's history with remakes.

"Ubisoft has historically leaned on remasters over full remakes, but it now has a few proper overhauls in the pipeline," writes Elliott. "Alongside the troubled Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake and Rayman Legends Retold, first out of the gate is Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. It's a ground-up remake of 2013's Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, still widely considered the peak of the franchise."

I mean, he's not exactly wrong there. I still look back at Black Flag as one of the series greats myself, alongside other personal favorites like Assassin's Creed 2. There hasn't been a "pirate" game quite like it since.

According to Elliott, though, that's not the only reason that Resynced might prove popular – it also has a lot to do with the Assassin's Creed series' rising emergence on PC (via Valve's platform Steam, of course).

"While Assassin's Creed has been a console-first property, it's been gaining some ground on Steam," as Elliott puts it. "For context, Assassin's Creed Shadows has sold 5.7 million copies globally, splitting 53.6% PS5, 23.8% Steam, and 23.6% Xbox. Resynced looks poised for a hearty PC showing, already clearing 300,000 copies sold on Steam ahead of launch, worth almost $14 million in gross revenue."

Those are some big numbers.

That's not all, though – "Resynced has already outsold the entire Steam lifetime run of Ubisoft Singapore's previous pirate venture, Skull & Bones, before it's even out. And our estimates have Black Flag Resynced tracking far above AC Shadows on Steam pre-launch, too."

That's… wild. It's no secret that Skull & Bones didn't exactly deliver, but that's all still mind-boggling. Not to mention those Assassin's Creed Shadows comparisons.

"At the same two-day-out milestone, Resynced has sold 5.39x more Steam copies than Shadows did in its equivalent pre-release window." Nostalgia helps, too. In Elliott's own words, "Black Flag Resynced is on track to be a much-needed hit for Ubisoft" – it's a "timely strategy for a struggling Ubisoft."

The analyst notes it's been "a turbulent few years of costly development, delays, and high-profile misses" for the company.

That's why it's good that Black Flag already has an established community. "Building an unproven new IP from scratch is a six-to-eight-year gamble costing hundreds of millions." Resynced, on the other hand, is no gamble at all.

Between the already-solid forecast for its sales and the nostalgia, as Elliott notes various times throughout his post, it's likely to be anything but a gamble for Ubisoft.

Here's hoping the analyst's words ring true – although something tells me they will. He'll "be back next week with the full launch data for Black Flag Resynced" after it's had a moment to properly land, so keep an eye on his Substack.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has "modernized the combat" of the original but is more "action-oriented" than Shadows

The Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced release time is finally here, letting you hop into the modernized version of Edward Kenway's Caribbean cruise and foray into the world of Assassins and Templars. After a few years of leaks and Ubisoft's refusal to officially acknowledge the game's existence, it's hard to believe that Black Flag Resynced is actually here and playable for all. Here's everything you need to know about the release of Black Flag Resynced and how you can play it.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced release time

Black Flag Resynced is out now around the world on all platforms - that's PS5, Xbox Series X (not on Game Pass), and PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Connect, and some cloud gaming platforms - so you can get started with Edward's swashbuckling story.

Black Flag Resynced had a global simultaneous release of 2PM UTC on July 9 for PC platforms. For consoles, the game had a much simpler local midnight release schedule for July 9.

Being a remake of the original Assassin's Creed 4, quite a lot has been changed, with new features getting added too - you can read about all the changes in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced here. If you're yet to pick up the game, you want to know what we thought of it in our Black Flag Resynced review, and I've also laid out how long it takes to beat Black Flag Resynced here so that you know what sort of commitment it is.

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These games to play before Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced are a great way to get ready for the remake of Ubisoft's swashbuckling stealthy adventure.

Whether you're looking to get in the spirit of Edward Kenway by diving right into pirate life, or you're wanting to polish off your hidden blades in some of the best Assassin's Creed games that either have direct ties or similar features to Black Flag, I've brought together a handy list of games I'd recommend playing before Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.

Of course, the new game is arriving on July 9, so you won't have to wait much longer to reunite with Kenway, or meet him for the first time. But if you're planning to hold off on playing the upcoming Assassin's Creed game straight away, the selection I've brought together below can offer up some great alternatives. And even if you are getting the remake on day one, you can also come back to this list if you're in the mood for something similar after you've wrapped up your time in the Caribbean. So, if you're ready to get on board and hoist your pirate flags, read on as I take you through some games to play before Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.

Games to play before Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced

Windrose

If you want to step into an open world set during the age of piracy before you navigate the Caribbean seas in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, then Windrose is your answer. With a unique setting made up of procedurally generated biomes that brings to life an alternate take on the 18th century, Kraken Express' adventure sees you become a pirate captain who commands your own ship and crew. As you try to survive the dangers of the high seas, the naval combat will surely prepare you for Kenway's seafaring battles.

When you choose to go from ship to shore and explore the biomes you come across, you can also make the most of the building, crafting, and resource-gathering ingredients at play to establish your very own settlements. With some familiar faces of legend making an appearance – including Blackbeard – you can also take on bosses, delve into dungeons and uncover mysteries. There are all kinds of swashbuckling adventures to be had, and while it's playable solo, you can even share the experience with any pals who want to be pirates in online co-op. If you're looking for some tips to get started, check out our guide to the best ships in Windrose.

Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age

You don't need to be at sea to be a pirate. And no, I'm not talking about landlubbers who've never gone beyond the shore. I'm talking about pirates in the sky! Yes, I'm going a little rogue here (which is in the spirit of things anyway) with Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age. If you're after something a little unique that still captures the spirit of pirate life in a decidedly different and more fantastical way, then this is for you.

Set in the world of Ivalice, which is at war, the story follows Vaan, a young orphan who dreams of someday flying freely in the vast skies above. Enter sky pirate Balthier and his airship Strahl. Before you know it, you're navigating the skies with a ragtag group as you set out on a memorable journey to free your homeland. Being a pirate is all about freedom, so the story marries perfectly, and who wouldn't want to be a sky pirate? Airships are just undeniably cool, after all.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

Now, if you're after a single-player pirate experience with a modern-day spin, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a very over-the-top adventure that brings RGG Studio's action to the Pacific Ocean. Playing as Yakuza series mainstay Goro Majima, you find yourself washed up on a remote island with no memories. And when you can't even remember your own name, what else is there to do but reinvent yourself as a pirate? As you commandeer a ship and set sail to try and get your memories back, you'll soon find yourself swept up in a wild, seafaring quest for legendary treasure.

Naturally, you can expect to come to blows against criminals and enemy ships as you explore the open world and its seas. With naval combat, you can also get stuck into some satisfying action that the best Yakuza games are so known for, with Majima boasting his own signature fighting styles that pack a punch. Let's face it: if any Yakuza character was made to become a pirate, it's Majima. I mean, he's already got an eye-patch and a rebellious spirit. For more, you can check out our Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review.

Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition

If you want to channel Edward Kenway and become a pirate legend of your own making, then you can't go wrong with Sea of Thieves. With the revised edition that was released in 2026 bringing together all of the permanent additions added to the base game throughout its many seasons since first launching, Rare lets you live out a pirate fantasy that's yours to shape in the shared open world. From exploring islands to delving underwater, you can take on quests, search for treasure, and work to build up your own reputation at sea. And if you're after a challenge, you can even try to take on big oceanic foes like the Kraken, or Megalodons.

Heck, you can even bury the treasure you plunder and create a map to it just like a true pirate. With lots of goals to work towards, side objectives to complete, and the option to create your own private sandbox with the recent Custom Seas feature that gives you the freedom to set your own rules and create the kind of pirate experience you want, Sea of Thieves is also still bringing in fresh features and in-game events. It's definitely a lot of fun sailing with friends, but you can try it solo, too.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Sure, Assassin's Creed Odyssey is quite a change in direction from the pirate-filled antics of Black Flag, but the adventure set in ancient Greece not only boasts a big open world, it also features its fair share of naval combat and seafaring exploration. Yes, if the vast open waters and ship-commanding side of things really puts the wind in your sails, Odyssey will absolutely get you in the mood for Black Flag in that respect.

Resynced is set to be even more action-orientated than the latest mainline entry, Assassin's Creed Shadows, too, with "hit-box based modern combat". Odyssey's real-time system is definitely more action-forward – albeit going more in the direction of an RPG with Spartan moves. But hit boxes also brings to mind the likes of Arno in Assassin's Creed Unity (which I have to give a little honorable mention here). Check out our Assassin's Creed Odyssey review for more.

Assassin's Creed 3 Remastered

Assassin's Creed 3 may not have managed to reach the same kind of heights as the likes of its predecessors, or the games that would follow it, but you can see how the third entry in the stealthy series paved the way for Assassin's Creed Black Flag. Nestled in the Assassin's Creed timeline after the events of Edward Kenway's adventures, Black Flag actually serves as a kind of prequel to Assassin's Creed 3, which takes place during the American Revolution in 1775.

Playing as Connor, a Native American who fights in the name of liberty for his nation, you'll come to meet Haytham Kenway, a member of the Templar Order who's actually the son of Edward. While you don't need to play Connor's adventure to follow Black Flag story-wise, Assassin's Creed 3 does bring to light some interesting ties, and it also introduces naval combat into the series for the first time – which was iterated and vastly expanded on for the sprawling open world of Black Flag.

Our guide on how to play the Assassin's Creed games in order is also here to help if you're looking to tuck into the series either chronologically, or by release date before playing Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is revamping the original in many ways. The combat will be deeper, there'll be more secrets to find, and more ways to find them, since the deep sea diving's been expanded to allow you plunge wherever you see fit, allowing you look around for all the extra treasure that's been buried, too.

"We still have those diving bell locations, but in addition, you can dive anywhere in the world now," Jussi Markkanen, technical director for the game, tells GamesRadar+. "We took the feature, obviously it's been in Assassin's Creed since Origins, that you can dive anywhere, and we utilize that, and we built all the underwater locations, there's a lot of new shipwrecks that you can find near the shorelines."

This is definitely the kind of curated expansion that works when revisiting a game like Black Flag. Coming out 13 years ago, the standards for both open-world adventures and Assassin's Creed installments were different at that point.

Sure the team could've just kept the diving as it was – the nostalgia would've hit just as well – but this seems like it'll maintain the feeling while giving Resynced a modern sheen. And finding all the gold and trinkets that are buried at the bottom of the deep, blue sea is the exact kind of treasure hunt I love losing myself in.

Markkanen teases there are other "little secrets," to give "one more dimension for the player to explore." Obviously, there are all sorts of ways that could go, but my mind immediately jumps to Titanic and Jaws. Perhaps we might be able to find a remnant of the unsinkable ship or the sunken boat of Ben Gardner, who fell victim to cinema's most famous great white.

Would these be anachronistic? Yes. Would they also be fun to see? Yes. Even if these aren't involved, the diving alone has me even more ready to hop back into Edward's shoes. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced star once alleged Ubisoft threatened to sue him over his remake tease, but now it's been turned into official promo.

After Ubisoft allegedly threatened to sue Edward Keyway actor Matt Ryan due to an Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced leak, the company is now using the slip up as part of its marketing for the remake.

It's no stretch to say that the Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake is potentially the worst-kept secret in gaming history, with leaks for the game being pretty widespread even as far back as a year ago. One of the biggest, however, happened when a fan met Ryan at the Nightmare Weekend convention last May, with Ryan asking them if they'd beaten the game, before adding: "Well you might have to beat it again." About a month later, another fan asked about it, and Ryan revealed he was unaware he was being recorded on the previous occasion and alleged that "the company threatened to sue me."

However, Ubisoft can't be too upset about it now, as the official Ubi-AssassinsCreed account on Reddit has now posted a short video featuring Ryan once again signing something and asking, "Have you beat the game?" This time, though, after saying "you might have to beat it again," he shows the release date of Resynced, while doubling down: "You're gonna have to beat it again."

Matt Ryan helped us Resync a moment from a year ago today. Remember what it was? Comment below for a chance to win one of the signed cards from the video. from r/assassinscreed

Granted, this isn't the first time Ubisoft has joked about its own leaks. As we entered 2026, the company went all in on the fact everyone already knew, using the San Andreas classic "Ah, shit, here we go again" in response to a new leak. And, when it was finally time to announce the game, they dubbed it its worst-kept secret.

Replay's July theme is Assassin's Creed: send us clips for a chance to win a £/$250 Amazon voucher!

July sees the release of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, so we're making this month's Replay theme all about the Assassin's Creed series. You can send in clips of any game for a chance to win a $/£250 Amazon voucher, with one prize for the best Assassin's clip, and a second general prize for any game full stop.

GamesRadar+ Replay is our community video series where you can submit gaming clips of anything you've been playing for a chance to win $/£250 in Amazon vouchers - one for the best clip overall, and one for the best Assassin's Creed video. If you've got something you think is cool, unusual, or just worth showing off, send it our way.

For a chance of winning, all you need to do is to submit your clips via the big orange button below. The winners will then be chosen by the GamesRadar+ team at the end of the month.

So, if you get a clip of anything amazing, interesting, or just plain weird, send it to GamesRadar and you could win a $/£250 Amazon voucher to spend on whatever you want.

By submitting your clip, you agree to the Terms and Conditions.

If you need a helping hand, here's how to record gameplay on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Switch/Switch 2 to save your highlights.

If we like your clip then we'll post it and share it, so you can join the Replay ranks like the videos you can see below.

The pirate's life is brought to the modern day with Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, wherein the classic installment has been remade to contemporary standards. That includes the combat, which is now more in line with what you'd get in current action games, but it's not just a copy-and-paste from other installments in the series.

"We modernized the combat to be more hitbox-based, as modern combat games tend to be, and a little bit more reactive," Jussi Markkanen, tech director on Resynced, tells GamesRadar+. "So, Edward can still use the hidden blades, but as a takedown action in the combat, so making the combat more fluid."

The goal was always to find balance between how the original Black Flag plays and these modern expectations. After all, we're jumping back into Edward's time on the seven seas in part to revisit the past - literally and figuratively - and that includes the mechanics, even if they may feel a little disjointed now.

"We have a parry system now, so you time your parries, but it's free movement and hitbox, so it's still physically based and built on top of the fight system we had on [Assassin's Creed] Shadows," Markkanen adds. "But instead of doing what Shadows did in the skill-tree based or RPG-style fights, we went more to the action-oriented fights."

The term he uses is "reimagining," a re-molding of Black Flag's structure that keeps the flow and intent but allows for more polish. "Skill-based in a way that it's skills in your hands," he says. "How do you move? How do you position yourself? How do you use your tools that you have?"

These are all pertinent questions to any encounter when you're a roving master of open water. You'll be able to test this all out for yourself when Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced arrives on July 9.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has great news for completionists: "no achievement can be missed," and none are tied to a difficulty setting, either.

Modernity or authenticity: wich is more important in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced? It's a loaded question, and one I fully expected complicated answers to as Ubisoft's Jussi Markkanen and Nicolas Lopez ponder it in silence. Of course there's space for both in a game like this, one of such massive size and scope – a remake of a classic Assassin's Creed game, and one of the most non-Creed-like games of them all to boot. But the correct answer turns out to be something else.

Faithfulness is the word of the day. "From the gameplay perspective, it's still faithful to the original," technology director Jussi Markkanen tells me "But from the technical point of view, Black Flag Resynced is actually almost like a new product. It's built using the latest Anvil engine, the same we used for Assassin's Creed Shadows, and we even improved it further."

Like Capcom's own string of Resident Evil remakes, Black Flag Resynced is "fully remade from scratch" thanks to the power of the Anvil engine. "We have all the latest rendering technologies in place, so for example, we use ray tracing and micropolygon and things like that. It was super important that, even when we use these technologies, we retain the visual identity of the game. We wanted players to know exactly that right from the start, they are in the Black Flag that they remember."

Stone the crows

Balancing source material with the latest tech sounds ambitious enough, but the pressure is compounded by the popularity of remakes in 2026. Not to mention, Black Flag Resynced is Ubisoft's very first remake.

As Anvil Engine Architect, Lopez knows that there is a divide in expectation between the more action-adventure Creeds and the RPG ones "in terms of technology, not only in gameplay." Translated into a huge, uninterrupted open world experience, Resynced just might bridge that.

It speaks to the evolution of the series' formula over time – the original Black Flag was revolutionary for 2011, being both an immersive pirate fantasy and a stealth-action sandbox. It went on to influence newer RPG entries such as Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Odyssey, which each put their own spin on ship mechanics and naval combat to suit their own historical contexts.

Say goodbye to docking your ship and sitting through a lengthy loading screen each time you make port. "In Resynced, you can just throw your ropes down at the pier," Markkanen says. "The open world is fully seamless, so we merge all its locations together."

"Starting from Origins, we made it possible to build much bigger worlds – 60 x 16 kilometers – [but] at the time of Black Flag, it wasn't really possible with the old engine," Lopez explains. "Before it was like puzzle pieces split in different maps, but we had to put everything together, so you have to wonder all of a sudden, 'did you cheat on the scale in the original game? How do you turn the island so it fits right in the map?' There were a lot of little questions that can add up to make sure everything stays faithful, and at the same time is integrated in the open world."

Avast!

Part and parcel of that is delivering on that same pirate fantasy laid out in the 2013 original, and that includes Resynced's combat. Instead of blurring the lines too heavily by letting Edward whip his hidden blade out for each and every encounter, you'll only be able to use them for stealthy takedowns – or as a finisher move in combat.

"We modernized the combat to be more hitbox based, as modern combat games tend to be, and a little bit more reactive," explains Markkanen, making the combat "more fluid" with its hidden blade limitations. "It's very much at heart like the original game, meaning that it's based on your positioning and your timing. So, we have a parry system now – you time your parries, but it's free movement and hitbox-based, so it's still physically based and built on top of the fight system we had on Assassin's Creed Shadows."

"It's more like pure action," adds Markkanen. "Almost right from the start you have all the moves that you can use in the game, it's just about learning how you can really use those efficiently in the game."

Markkanen describes it as using your surroundings "in a pirate way". Some of these moves sound pretty technical – you can "pull enemies from rooftops" with rope darts, or use other environmental features to give you the upper hand in combat. But cutlasses aside, a huge part of a pirate's life is adventure, which is where the vast open world comes back into play.

"Right from the start we wanted to keep the original narrative," says Markkanen. "We knew that this is one of the things that players absolutely love, and we didn't want to change it. So, we still have the exact same narrative arc that Edward has, but of course, there is a lot of new stuff that we sprinkled around the map as side quests, and little small secrets and details that the players can find. So, whenever you feel like it, you can just diverge from your main path quest and do whatever you want, and then come back and continue Edward's story."

As well as new island encounters and side content, Ubisoft Montreal has been hard at work building Resynced's verticality – adding the ability to free dive into underwater environments. All of this is yours to interact with if you want it. "You can complete it maybe in 25 hours doing the main story," Markkanen suggests. "Or you can spend hundreds of hours in the world just exploring and having fun."

Check out some of the other upcoming Ubisoft games ahead of Resynced's July release date!

I get it. Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's adventure has a special place in our memory, but have you actually gone back and replayed the first Assassin's Creed? The repetitive mission structure was already a major point of criticism back in 2007 even in GamesRadar+'s glowing Assassin's Creed review. The parkour system – as novel as it was back then – was rather limited, and the original assassin's arsenal of weapons and tools couldn't even match the variety of the older Hitman games.

Assassin's Creed is a crucial part of modern video game history, but as a video game, it was quickly surpassed by its much superior sequel and often ranks low among the best Assassin's Creed games according to fans. Almost 19 years later, only unfiltered nostalgia can make anyone say it holds up beyond its immaculate vibes. With the buzz that surrounds Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced suggesting there's a big interest in more remakes, I think Ubisoft needs to revisit the series' beginning before an inevitable return to Renaissance-era Italy.

Structural problems with easy fixes

Like it or not, big-budget remakes from established publishers with vast IP libraries will continue to be churned out for the foreseeable. Personally, I don't have a problem with them as long as the original titles are readily available to purchase and they don't get in the way of new entries.

In the case of Assassin's Creed, with a new instalment on the way in Assassin's Creed Hexe, the opportunity to fully realize the original first game's ambitious vision shouldn't be skipped in favor of going after more popular old-school entries that have endured the test of time better.

Remakes are interesting to analyze. They often serve one of two purposes: to "rethink" already watertight games for a modern audience, adding a few improvements beyond graphics along the way, or to complete and polish up things that weren't quite right (or there at all) originally. No matter how iconic you think Assassin's Creed was and still is, getting to the game's best parts feels generally miserable.

Even as a 15-year-old, eager to simply play the latest technological marvel without viewing it as a critic, I wasn't impressed by Assassin's Creed's approach to investigations and side missions before the big assassination set pieces.

After the second city I visited, I began to worry. Most of the time and resources had clearly gone into cracking the tech required to bring bustling streets to life and make the player character seamlessly climb almost every surface in the game. This is the one thing a serious Assassin's Creed remake should completely demolish and rebuild. Learn from the best – ahem, the Hitman series – and put those gorgeous environments to good use.

We don't need anything too fancy, as I think AC1 should remain old-fashioned regardless of adjustments and additions, but I don't want to track down and stab an informant half a dozen times before the credits roll. I don't enjoy the meandering tasks that pad out the game's length in exchange for exhilarating 30-minute hunts. Instead, I can see it transformed into one of the best open-world games to justify its scope in between story beats.

Graceful aggression

My other main gripe with the original Assassin's Creed is that its combat encounters were never very good. Even if you'd rather stick with the traditional freeflow combat that the best Batman: Arkham games immediately improved upon, Ubisoft's first go at more elegant button-mashing didn't have much grace. Ezio's trilogy and the pre-RPG entries that followed delivered something better, but even Black Flag's refresh explored big changes to the system.

It remains to be seen how both longtime fans of the series and newcomers will respond to Black Flag Resynced's combat when they actually play it, but I think we all can agree: finnicky action RPG-style battles shouldn't touch past entries. I'd prefer smoother animations and more reactive combos, parries, and evasive moves instead.

We were supposed to believe Altaïr was one of the best assassins the Order ever had, yet he struggled to efficiently deal with four drunken guards due to clumsy controls and janky animations. Ubisoft veterans now have all the experience and tech required to make him a lethal warrior (with, hopefully, access to more weapons and items) too.

The Resident Evil effect

By now, it's abundantly clear Ubisoft is looking at past wins and mistakes to define the future of the Assassin's Creed franchise, which isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The mix of old and new – both in design philosophies and as a profitable creative roadmap – falls in line with Capcom's approach to Resident Evil, which is paying off big time. The gaps between major new releases facilitate the existence of remasters and remakes, providing both the perfect testing grounds for new features and building up a substantial financial cushion between mainline entries. It's a win-win scenario, as long as the quality is there.

Still, triple-A development shouldn't be overly tied to the whims of the market. Nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia isn't a viable path forward for any IP, but there are cases where creatives and fans will agree a classic never quite reached its full potential. After all, classics needn't be masterpieces (or at least that's what I believe).

Assassin's Creed 2 is undoubtedly an industry-shaking touchpoint that should be studied to understand the evolution of an entire genre, but for actual entertainment purposes, there's a much better game waiting to be unearthed and cleaned up. Rumours suggest I might be right and an Assassin's Creed 1 remake is happening next. Will 2027 – the series' 20th anniversary – mark the return to the Holy Land? I'd bet a few coins on it.

With so few upcoming Assassin's Creed games that we know of right now, the future of the franchise has never been more mysterious...

Pets in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced are a new addition, with animal companions that player can find and add to the Jackdaw that weren't in the original game. Though ornamental in nature, many want to know where to find these cute little critters, especially if you haven't unlocked the free ones that come with the more expensive deluxe edition of the Black Flag remake. Below I'll show you where to find every pet in the game, as well as what they do for you in-game.

How to get all Pets in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced

There are 4 Pets available to players in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. We've listed them all below and how to obtain them accordingly.

• Soot the Cat. After unlocking the manor in Great Inagua as a base, go to Inagua town and coordinates 819, 441 to find a local event called Cat Distribution System. Interact with the black cat on the roof to add it as a permanent pet.
• Albert the Monkey. After unlocking the manor in Great Inagua as a base, go to Havana and to the ship docked outside at 226, 568 where there's a local event called Monkey Business. Kill the spanish soldiers on the ship and interact with the monkey lying in the middle to add him to the team.
• Gold Tom, Ship's Pet (cat). Purchase the Deluxe Edition of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced .
• Dark Animus Familiar (monkey). Unlocked through progress in the Eye in the Dark Animus Progression Path (reward 1).

What do pets do in Black Flag Resynced?

Pets don't serve any actual gameplay function in the Black Flag remake, they're just cosmetic. You can equip them in the "Inventory" screen, at which point they appear on the deck of the Jackdaw and in your cabin. Their behaviour might change depending on what's going on around them (such as becoming more excited during combat encounters or storms), but they don't provide you any advantage or change how things work.

Find some actually useful elements with our full guide to the Black Flag Resynced Treasure Maps! Or if you want to recruit some actual humans, go find all the different Black Flag Resynced Officers and see what new powers they unlock for you!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Want to know about all the changes in the Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced remake? We've gone through all the pre-launch information Ubisoft revealed about Black Flag Resynced and have corroborated it with our own experience playing the game to explain all the major differences, improvements, and additions to the new version. From graphical enhancements and map expansions to new officers for the Jackdaw and stealth changes for Edward, here are all the Black Flag Resynced changes.

What does the Black Flag Resynced remake change?

By all accounts the Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced remake is largely a modernization of the original game, updating its visuals and adding and adjusting features in line with more recent technological advances and sensibilities, although the developers have also chosen to remove certain elements. We've broken them down into three sections for easier navigation, which you can do via the tabs at the side of the page.

Story and quests

• No future sequences. The original AC Black Flag had multiple sequences set at Abstergo Industries based around an unnamed protagonist. These will be removed in Resynced.
• Tailing and eavesdropping missions are revamped with "multiple ways to succeed and progress". After tailing missions in the original game were a pointedly unpopular element, the new game includes alternate ways to resolve them, and no longer fails you if you're spotted.
• Three new Black Flag Resynced Officers for the Jackdaw. Known as Lucy Baldwin, the Padre, and Deadman Smith, each one is unlocked via new Officer quests and unlocks new abilities for the Jackdaw.
• New quests and storylines. Black Flag Resynced features a new endgame questline made up of eight side quests. There are also new side quests for Blackbeard (you have to find Blackbeard's Treasure in Black Flag Resynced) and Stede Bonnet, one for unlocking more pets, and one for collecting art pieces for the Great Inagua mansion.
• New "what if" Rifts. Players can find optional Rifts that allow you to play through various alternate realities and "what if" scenarios for Edward and other characters. These are the closest thing to modern-day sequences in Black Flag Resynced as you, the player, fiddle with the Animus.

Gameplay and online

• Combat reworked. Fighting in Black Flag has been somewhat updated for the modern day, with elements including perfect parries and chained takedowns that allow you to take down enemies with clever timing.
• Gear perks: More weapons come with special perks and Edward can now be equipped with up to two Trinkets to gain additional perks.
• Improved parkour. The free running gameplay has been made more versatile and fluid with the inclusion of new mechanics, like free jumps and various wall ejects.
• Stealth gameplay improvements: Crouching is no longer contextual as there is a dedicated crouch button. The visibility meter is also affected by day, night, and weather, with rain making Edward harder to spot. Overall, players have a bit more creative freedom for approaching stealth sequences and assassinations.
• Expanded map: The entire Caribbean Sea map has been expanded a bit with new island to explore. This also means that any map coordinates from the original game are completely different in Resynced.
• Dynamic weather system. Weather conditions like storms and rain now appear to be more interactive and impact the world more significantly.
• Underwater exploration is more expansive. Underwater areas have been redesigned and expanded, and you can now dive below the surface anywhere.
• New Black Flag Resynced pets. Players can obtain pets for the Jackdaw. So far, a cats and a monkies have been confirmed, but there sadly doesn't seem to be a parrot.
• Alternate fire upgrades for the Jackdaw. All the Jackdaw's weapons and cannons now have secondary fire modes that can be unlocked. The suit of Black Flag Resynced Ultimate ship upgrades still exists too.
• You can now pass time: Using the new Black Flag Resynced skip time feature allows you to fast-forward to the morning or evening, but only under certain conditions.
• Removal of multiplayer. The multiplayer component has been removed from Black Flag, and it is now fully single-player.
• Integration to the Animus Hub. Black Flag Resynced is tied to the Animus Hub platform, including its live service elements as seen in games like Assassin's Creed Shadows before it. That means it also features Projects for unlocking things and the collectible Keys currency.

Graphical and technical changes

• Anvil Engine. Black Flag Resynced runs on Ubisoft's Anvil engine. This specific incarnation of Anvil has been previously used for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Mirage and Shadows, as well as Immortals Fenyx Rising and Skull and Bones, though it received an upgrade for Shadows, with both technical and gameplay additions.
• No more loading screens when entering cities. Docking at cities and settlements is now unbroken gameplay with no loading screens involved.
• Improved textures, lighting effects and visual detail. Thanks to a total redesign of all assets and the latest Anvil improvements, Black Flag Resynced has an incredibly detailed and more immersive Caribbean map.
• Environmental destruction. Objects in the world are easier to destroy in the course of combat, but this doesn't really affect gameplay.
• New sea shanties. The original game's sea shanties are in Resynced, but also new ones "connected to the story". These come as part of a partnership with musician Woodkid, who collaborated on the new shanties.

Those are all the major changes but much is also the same and should be familiar if you've played the original. Things like the Black Flag Resynced Treasure Maps and Black Flag Resynced Mayan Stones are in the same locations but at different coordinates due to the changes to the map. If you want to know where all those sorts of collectibles and side quest items are, be sure to check out the rest of our Black Flag Resynced guides.

Is Black Flag Resynced on Game Pass? We've explained here.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Black Flag Resynced has brought back the Treasure Maps and Buried Treasure tied to them, with players able to find or create maps that lead to all kinds of rewards both major and minor. We've found every in-game map in the Assassin's Creed Remake below and laid out how to find the location of the treasure it leads to, with a couple of exceptions that we're currently narrowing down even at time of writing. However, if you want to make yourself into a master treasure hunter, not only can you find all the treasure maps and buried treasure in Resynced below, but we've also attached our original guide for those who want to find the treasure in the original Black Flag from 2013, found on pages 2 and 3.

For more collectibles in the Caribbean, find out where to look for the Black Flag Resynced Mayan Stelae locations, or all the different Black Flag Resynced Ultimate ship upgrades!

All treasure map locations and solutions in Black Flag Resynced

There are dozens of treasure maps to find in Black Flag Resynced, and in the table below we've laid out where to find them, where to dig up the buried treasure they lead to, and what that treasure is so you know if it's worth the effort.

You'll know if you're close because Edward will say something like "I've seen this place before." If he doesn't say anything, you may be in the wrong area. Once you're standing where you need to, an icon will appear for you to dig.

It's important to remember that you can't dig up a treasure in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced unless you've found the map. If you skip the maps and go straight to the dig point, you won't get the trigger to start digging... Which makes sense, considering there's no way for Edward to know that he's supposed to dig at all.

How to fix map pieces in Black Flag Resynced

Throughout Black Flag you can find map pieces, which are useless in and of themselves unless reassembled. To do this, you need to do the following:

1. Unlock the hub area Great Inagua.
2. Build the Treasure Dealer upgrade to unlock that vendor.
3. Bring him all pieces of a map and the additional payment asked for (it varies from map to map).

At this point you'll be given the finished map and can use it like any other. There are multiple maps that can be assembled this way, each one of which is found in a different way.

• Weathered Map (6 Pieces). Found in the chests in Smuggler's Dens, except for one, which is sold by the Treasure Dealer himself.
• Yellowed Map (10 Pieces). Random rewards for Fleet missions. Only seem to appear on Schooner missions.
• Digested Map (2 Pieces). Slay and skin the White Jaguar on Great Inagua or the one encountered on the Templar Hunt mission "the Taino Assassin".
• Tattered Map (3 Pieces). Found in lockboxes taken from high level Pirate Hunter ships after boarding and capturing them.
• Preserved Map (4 Pieces). Found randomly by looting Warehouses (low reward chance).

Want more secrets of plunder from Edward Kenway's adventures? If you're working through the story, find out where to find the Sage and Prison Key in Black Flag Resynced, or how to solve the Black Flag Resynced statue puzzle of Tulum!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

What follows on this page and the one past it are all treasure map locations and dig spots for the original Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. If you're playing the game as it first appeared, this will show you everything you need to know about finding buried treasure there!

Buried Treasure No. 1

Map Location: Cape Bonavista, on the beach near the ship in the cove

Treasure Location: Cape Bonavista - Face the ship, turn around 180 degrees and head straight for the small cave. At the end of the cave, look down at a small, partially embedded rock.

Reward: 1500 Reales

Buried Treasure No. 2

Map Location: Northern half of Havana, next to the monastery

Treasure Location: Southern tip of Havana, to the right of a fallen palm tree

Reward: Queen Anne’s figurehead design plan, 3000 Reales

Buried Treasure No. 3

Map Location: Southern end of Abaco Island, in the Eleuthera region

Treasure Location: Northern end of Salt Lagoon (in the Gibara region), near a giant rock.

Reward: Design plan, 3000 Reales

Buried Treasure No. 4

Map Location: Southern tip of Andreas Island, north of Havana

Treasure Location: In the middle of a tree cluster on Abaco Island, very close to a stranded ship

Reward: 4000 Reales

Buried Treasure No. 5

Map Location: In the cove of Great Inagua, west of where the Jackdaw docks

Treasure Location: In Nassau, look for the restricted area at the large home near the swamp. Go down the cliff and look for two fallen trees.

Reward: Design plan for grey sails, 3000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 6

Map Location: Slightly left of the center of Mariguana Island

Treasure Location: On a very tiny island at the southern end of Andreas Island

Reward: Design plans for the elite harpoon, 3000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 7

Map Location: At Cayman Sound, on the upper right side of the “U” formation of the island, near some small trees and embedded rocks

Treasure Location: Inside Petite Caverne, on an slightly elevated section near the campfire

Reward: Design plans for heavy shot storage, 3000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 8

Map Location: At Tortuga, run along the northeast edge of the island along the beach, where you’ll eventually come across a corpse.

Treasure Location: After docking at Mantanzas, make your way southeast, through the town. Eventually you’ll come across some Mayan ruins. Between two of the biggest columns you’ll find a small recess and the treasure.

Reward: Elite mortar storage plans, 3000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 9

Map Location: On one of the higher levels of the ruins in Misteriosa, which you can access after completing Sequence 9, Memory 2

Treasure Location: At the easternmost end of Kingston, near some crates and a small portion of a ship hull

Reward: Blackwood wheel design plans, 3000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 10

Map Location: At the northern end of Pinos Isle, on a corpse crushed by a fallen column

Treasure Location: At Cayman Sound, on the upper right side of the “U” formation of the island, near some small trees and embedded rocks

Reward: 4000 Reales

Buried Treasure No. 11

Map Location: At the easternmost tip of Ile a Vache

Treasure Location: Enter the smuggler’s cove known as Jiguey. Inside the hideout is a single tree next to a flat rock formation. Look for the “dig” prompt there.

Reward: 4000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 12

Map Location: At the campfire in Corozal

Treasure Location: At Ambergris Key, which is accessible only through a swimming via the diving bell. When you surface and find the ruins, the treasure can be found in an alcove opposite the main structure.

Reward: 4000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 13

Map Location: At Ambergris Key, which is accessible only through a swimming via the diving bell. Look for the treasure map icon on the second floor of the main structure.

Treasure Location: At the largest structure in Misteriosa, climb to the very top. You’ll find the “dig” prompt close to where the flowing water starts.

Reward: Heavy shot design plans, 3000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 14

Map Location: The northeast corner of Santanillas

Treasure Location: Take the diving bell down to the depths of San Juan. Swim until you reach the smuggler’s den. Note the broken planks of wood hanging off one of the tunnels. The “dig” prompt can be found below the planks.

Reward: Elite fire barrels design plans, 3000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 15

Map Location: Dive down Anotto Bay using the diving bell. Swim past the shark patrols to find the smuggler’s den. The map is on the east side of the den.

Treasure Location: Travel to the fort at Principe and look for the two adobe towers next to the cannons. Walk around to the right side of the towers to find the “dig” prompt at the edge of the cliff.

Reward: 4000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 16

Map Location: During Sequence 8, Memory 3, you’ll end up at Isla Providencia. The treasure map icon will appear during a chase sequence, around the northern half of the map.

Treasure Location: At the northeast beach of Long Bay. You'll have to wait until Sequence 10, Memory 3 to access it. Look for the lookout tower. From the tower's point of view, the dig spot will be to its left, near a bush.

Reward: 4000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 17

Map Location: At the west side of Petite Caverne

Treasure Location: On the southeastern edge of Tulum, at the base of the largest tree in the immediate area.

Reward: 4000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 18

Map Location: Northeastern corner of Salt Lagoon

Treasure Location: The coordinates on the map will lead you to New Bone. Note that this town is guarded by at least two ships, so have mortar cannons and a thick hull ready. The treasure is buried near the edge of a cliff to the back and the right of the windmill.

Reward: 4000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 19

Map Location: At the northern tip of Cumberland Bay

Treasure Location: At Pinos Isle, at the base of the tree, at the immediate right of the large Mayan ruins

Reward: Aquila’s wheel design plans, 3000 Reales

Buried Treasure No. 20

Map Location: Use Kenway's Fleet and send a fleet out to the Eastern British Colonies. Accept the mission titled 'The Empty Cellar'. Provided your ships return safely, you'll receive a map.

Treasure Location: At Cumberland Bay, look for the set of small rocks at the northern tip of the island. The treasure is close by.

Reward: 4000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 21

Map Location: Use Kenway's Fleet and send a fleet out to Eastern Canada. Accept the mission titled 'Scarlatina'. Provided your ships return safely, you'll receive a map.

Treasure Location: Run along the southern coast line until you see some remnants of a ship. At a nearby trio of trees, you'll find the treasure.

Reward: 4000 reales

Buried Treasure No. 22

Map Location: Use Kenway's Fleet and send a fleet out to the Mediterranean Sea. Accept the mission titled 'Great Reputation II'. Provided your ships return safely, you'll receive a map.

Treasure Location: Inside the smuggler's den in Anotto Bay. Look for the only ladder in the den. Near the base of it is the treasure.

Reward: 4000 reales

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Assassin's Creed Shadows received what is supposed to be its final update ahead of the release of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. But fans have noticed that the Black Tides update has left things open for more Yasuke and Naoe content.

Spoilers for Assassin's Creed Shadows' Black Tides update follow

Despite being promised as the "real ending" to Yasuke and Naoe's story, fans have discovered that things aren't quite as final as expected. As Assassin's Creed fan account Zephryss reports, "We might get a New Assassin's Creed Shadows DLC or even a sequel in the future."

At the end of the quest, Yasuke suggests passing the magic cube macguffin to the mortal enemies of the Templars, in order to keep it out of their hands, to which Naoe responds – spelling it out – "You think we should contact the Brotherhood of Assassins," adding, "maybe one day we'll seek them out."

So while Black Tides was supposed to be the finale for the duo, many now speculate that this won't be the case. According to Zephryss, associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois hinted during the now-archived Assassin's Creed Shadows anniversary stream that, just as Assassin's Creed Mirage received surprise DLC last year, over two years after it launched, anything is possible for the future of Shadows.

Although this may not manifest in a proper sequel for Assassin's Creed Shadows, as – aside from the Ezio trilogy – it's not exactly a series that sticks with its protagonists for more than one game.

However, the series has in the past brought back characters in future entries or DLC expansions, most notably being the return of Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Kassandra in Assassin's Creed Valhalla's DLC. So perhaps we see Naoe and Yasuke return as supporting characters in a future entry, or more DLC in a few years' time. Plus, the DLC hints at more Basim, so perhaps there's room for crossover in whatever he does next.

Ubisoft admits Assassin's Creed Shadows' story didn't land "as we hoped," so its final update is trying to fix it

Assassin's Creed Shadows' final update is here, and fans have discovered that it also adds references to a couple of familiar faces from the series' past.

As highlighted by a fan on Twitter, there are a couple of particularly interesting new data files to unlock in Assassin's Creed Shadows latest patch. Under the "Animus Precedents" section, you can see a file titled Alruh.

"In the 860s, a Hidden One (FYI, a 'Hidden One' is basically a Retro Assassin) named Basim encountered a machine called the 'Alruh,' which is the Arabic word for 'the spirit.' (FYI 'Animus' is the Latin word for spirit)," it begins. "This strange machine was designed to see the past, by reading Isu devices called 'Memory Seals' which as far as I can tell were like prehistoric blu-rays that contain genetic memories.

"Basim seemed like an interesting dude, but people around here get squirrely when I ask about him. Why? What happened to him?"

Very interesting indeed. For fans, this is somewhat of a blessing and a curse – despite it being a cool mention, it's just made some hungrier for more. "I want a proper continuation of Basim from Valhalla's modern day, not just some random text files that don't mean anything," one writes. "About fucking time... his modern day in Valhalla was excellent... we need more of him," says another.

Basim isn't the only one mentioned in the new update. Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Kassandra also gets a shoutout in the "Aletheia's Trials" data file, discussing the Isu and their technology. "The Brotherhood still has access to a memory stream for a mercenary in Ancient Greece, named Kassandra," it says. "She encountered a digital apparition of one of these beings, named Aletheia. Aletheia used her own memories to create a series of training simulations for Kassandra to experience through a machine."

When Shadows' last update launched earlier this week, associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois teased that "there are many Easter Eggs, as well as direct and indirect references to previous games," so we knew to keep an eye out for this sort of stuff.

"The more you know about the existing lore, the more layers you'll find to enjoy and make connections with," he said at the time. "And with Domains, just wait till you see some of the higher-tier rewards we've hidden in there. You might want to take a closer look at some of them in your Hideout to read their descriptions, too."

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has great news for completionists: "no achievement can be missed," and none are tied to a difficulty setting, either.

I am very much not a completionist when it comes to games, but I understand the compulsion. There's a certain ownership of a game you can only earn yourself by checking off every single little thing it has to offer, and often times, that final checklist is the list of achievements you can unlock. Unfortunately for many completionists, many of those achievements are often tied to things like difficulty settings, or activities that can only be completed if you're connected to the internet, or worst of all, branching paths that require you to play through the game multiple times. Thankfully, Ubisoft has confirmed that Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, the upcoming remake of one of the best pirate games of all time, won't have any of that bologna tied to the achievements system.

As it did with Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft published the full list of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced achievements on Steam and, with the exception of the "hidden" ones, what you need to do to unlock them. It also confirmed three crucial details that any self-respecting completionist will be glad to know: "Available from day one, all achievements are the same across Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.
All achievements will be unlockable no matter which difficulty level you choose," the studio says. "Plus, no achievement can be missed during the adventure. You also won’t need a connection to earn any of the achievements."

In any game, but particularly those of the massive open world variety that the Assassin's Creed series has come to embrace in recent years (with rare exceptions like Mirage, of course), it's a huge inconvenience for completionists when certain trophies are only accessible in replays, potentially adding many hours to the task of getting each and every one. Again, there is no world where I have the patience for that no matter how convenient it is, but I'm happy for the Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced players who are looking forward to that 100%.

These are the best Assassin's Creed games you can play right now.

The new and final Assassin's Creed Shadows story update, Black Tides, is here to bridge the narrative gap between Ubisoft's latest mainline open world behemoth and the story contained in the upcoming Black Flag Resynced, but the update has another purpose: it's the "real ending" to Naoe and Yasuke's story, and a remedy to some of the main game's lackluster storytelling, according to Ubisoft.

In the announcement writeup for Black Tides, Ubisoft acknowledges one of the most common criticisms of Assassin's Creed Shadows. While the game has largely been praised for its engaging open world, combat, and dual protagonists, GamesRadar+'s Assassin's Creed Shadows review echoes many in saying the story could use some work and in particular, its ending is "disappointing." Ubisoft all but co-signs that sentiment today, describing Black Tides as a story-focused update that ties everything together and leaves players with a more satisfying conclusion.

"We acknowledge some story elements from the main game that the community didn't resonate with as much as we hoped, so we're taking those elements and that feedback and trying to put them to good use and address them in this final chapter," says associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois. "I hope the community is satisfied with where we leave our two protagonists – and hopefully get even more excited for Black Flag Resynced in the process."

Lemay-Comtois says the Black Tides update is specifically geared toward "narrative-driven players looking for deep lore and more Templar action." The final mission, which can only be accessed once you've beaten the main campaign and the A Critical Encounter and A Puzzlement quests, is a "story-capper" with about two hours of new content "wrapping up Naoe and Yasuke's adventure." Crucially, Black Tides also adds Assassin's Creed Shadows' final Rift mission, titled Horizon, which Lemay-Comtois says connects Shadows' and Black Flag Resynced's modern day meta narratives.

Finally, Lemay-Comtois says to be on the lookout for "many" (his emphasis) Easter eggs in Black Tides, which include both "direct and indirect references to previous games" in the series. "The more you know about the existing lore, the more layers you'll find to enjoy and make connections with," he adds.

Here's how we ranked the best Assassin's Creed games.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is on the verge of getting its final content update, and Ubisoft has just lifted the veil on what to expect. A free update on June 16 will give us a final quest bringing Naoe and Yasuke's story to a close, while other additions will offer some final gameplay challenges and give us some unlockables to bridge the gap over to Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.

"A new threat washes ashore," Ubisoft's official rundown of the new story quest begins. "Two elite-level Templars known as 'Black Cross' are called to Japan to hunt Naoe and Yasuke for all the trouble they have caused. But as is often the case with the Templar Order, those Black Cross may have additional goals of their own: It's up to our two protagonists to prevent them from acquiring whatever they seek – and manage to stay alive…"

You'll need to have completed both the original game's main story as well as the A Critical Encounter and A Puzzlement quests in order to access this new mission. In the video below, associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois teases that these three missions constitute the game's "real ending," and I don't know whether to be excited or upset by that declaration after how disappointing I found the game's conclusion at launch.

On top of the Black Tides story quest, the update also adds "a brand-new Animus activity that will put your RPG build crafting skills to the test." Called Domains, this will be a series of challenge levels that'll let you earn a host of new end-game gear and other upgrades.

And finally, this update also kicks off a pair of Projects – essentially battle passes – that'll offer rewards in both Shadows and Black Flag Resynced, and you can progress them in both games. The video above teases some pirate-themed gear for Naoe and Yasuke in Shadows, as well as some Japan-themed outfits for Edward Kenway in Black Flag. Hopefully this'll all make the wait for Resynced a little easier to bear.

Here are all the upcoming Ubisoft games you need to know about.

Something wicked this way comes, and maybe something stealthy. Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe is one of the next upcoming Ubisoft games on the horizon after Black Flag Resynched, and if the latest leaks turn out to be true, it might be the game I’ve dreamt of for a decade.

According to a "prominent" Ubisoft insider on Reddit, Hexe will allegedly be set in the medieval German town of Würzberg. It's an incredibly ambitious move, if true, possibly delivering the first single-location RPG the franchise has ever seen. 2023's Assassin's Creed Mirage gave us a taste of classic city-stealth Creed back in action, something I adored about Unity and Syndicate and mourned the loss of when Ubisoft widened its scope for the RPGs entries shortly after. With massive renditions of ancient Egypt, a Viking Britain, and the Greek islands during the Peloponnesian War, these games still amount to some of the best third-person RPGs ever – but sprawl leaves no shadow to hide in.

Hexe has an incredible opportunity to splice those two worlds together, iterating upon not only Ubisoft's intentions for the franchise going forward (and what the publisher will look like from hereon out), but how it will use a little genre-blending witchcraft to finally make this series feel like itself again.

Toil and trouble

I don't usually put too much stock into the rumor mill. Hell, those Resident Evil 9 leaks reeked from the start, and I only hurt myself by entertaining them. But the truth is that Ubisoft needs to do something bold right now, and cross-breeding its two Creed genres for something fresh makes perfect sense for the publisher – especially right now.

It's been a rough 12 months for Ubisoft. In a move to course-correct from a period of declining stock price, a massive company-wide restructuring announced in January 2026 saw a number of internal studios closed, games canceled mid-development (RIP Prince of Persia remake), and the grouping of specific IPS under new "creative houses" built around specific purposes. Its latest earnings call simply pointed out the writing on the wall: as Ubisoft's "targeted premium games," there's a lot of pressure on games like Assassin's Creed to lead the charge toward growth.

That means even with Black Flag Resynched on the horizon, Ubisoft is still prioritizing its internal affairs. The earnings call stipulates that we can expect a "softer release slate" from Ubisoft in the next year, according to CEO Yves Guillemot, with "disappointing short-term financial performance" due to ongoing restructuring costs. The payoff will be "a significantly bigger content pipeline" from 2027 through 2029, with games from major brands "including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Ghost Recon" to benefit from this more fiscally-conservative period.

While that seems to give us a rough release window for the upcoming Assassin's Creed game, it also proves that there's much more riding on Hexe than the viability of the game alone; Ubisoft needs it to land if it wants to prove that all this in-house cleanup was actually worth the short-term losses.

Brick by brick

A city (or town, in this case) RPG sounds like an excellent play in that regard. Ever since Assassin's Creed Valhalla's terrifying size and scope intimidated many from ever finishing it, each subsequent Creed has felt tighter in its presentation. Mirage, while not an RPG, presents a large, dynamic city with small outcroppings and hamlets to explore, and Assassin's Creed Shadows presents a slice of Sengoku-period Japan instead of the whole territory.

It speaks to Ubisoft's ongoing mild identity crisis in relation to Assassin's Creed's future. It's impossible to please everyone, and finding the perfect one-size-fits-all Creed RPG has felt like its ever-growing Everest. Shadows felt like a marked turning point in itself, not only in relation to more assassin-heavy gameplay and smaller, more focused world map, but in how it incorporates plenty of classic iconography alongside novel ones. Shinobi Naoe using an actual hidden blade, for example, instead of Kassandra and Alexios' broken spearheads.

The Hexe leaks seem to take that nod back to the series' roots to the next level. Alleged protagonist Anika is said to be a descendent of the Auditore family, and the game might even feature a long-awaited cameo from master assassin Ezio himself as a ghost of sorts. That might sound far-flung at first, but for a game supposedly set during the European witch trials, I'm expecting more than a taste of the arcane in Hexe anyway. The leaker also cites "blood pacts and poison", ritual sites and circles, and “tree-to-tree branch jumping” (welcome back Naoe) among story and gameplay features.

There's still quite some time before the 2027-29 period Ubisoft has offered in terms of a vague release window, but already, I'm feeling hopeful. I don't mind waiting for something that might actually bring Assassin's Creed to daring new heights on Ubisoft's quest to make serious bank from the stealth franchise, and if those heights happen to involve invoking the devil and killing some witch-hunters, consider my hidden blade as whetted as my appetite.

Check out the best Assassin's Creed games for the ultimate stealth-action adventure

It's the era of the pirate game, it seems, as Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced approaches and other gems like Windrose and Sea of Thieves continue to make waves – but Ubisoft's remake might just make a bigger splash than the rest.

Or, at least, that's what game director Richard Knight seems to think. When asked recently by GamesRadar+ what not being an RPG does for Assassin's Creed, he explains, "A lot of it comes down to the narrative that we tell with Black Flag. It's always going forward. It's kind of like Edward himself – he's always pushing forward, he's making mistakes, and pushing to the next thing. And it turns into this epic."

That checks out, I suppose.

"You see from the very beginning," continues Knight, getting into the nitty-gritty of what makes the protagonist's story and position stand out, "at first, he's there to make money for his family. He just can't bear the idea of being poor in England. So he's off to get money. And in the very beginning of the game, he literally will kill people for money, and then he'll complain about not getting enough money."

The lead concludes on Edward: "And he's all about money, and that's very interesting because it creates this fundamental tension with the character as he starts to learn these assassin things."

This "interesting" background and setting feed into the "mix" that Knight says Black Flag Resynced boasts – the elements that make it different than other pirate games, such as Skull and Bones, Sea of Thieves, or Windrose.

It's "the assassin game and the pirate game at the same time," put simply. "It's only by doing both of those that you get that unique mixture that forms Edward's story."

As a fan of the 2013 original myself, I can certainly see what Knight means – most other pirate games are online, combat and PvP-heavy experiences, while Black Flag feels like its own sort of title that combines features and factors that make various genres fun.

Here's hoping that, come Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, everyone understands what the director is getting at with the whole "unique mixture" statement – and thankfully, there's not long left to wait until its July 9 release date.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced creative lead says "the world of the Caribbean is a little bit more dense" compared to Shadows' take on Japan.

Edward Kenway is sailing back to our screens in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, a remake of the beloved 2013 original. Despite being an older installment, we've been assured by a central developer that the game's world will feel as lively as any of the more recent entries.

When discussing Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced's map, creative director Paul Fu tells GamesRadar+ that the world is actually more populous than in Assassin's Creed Shadows, which became more of an issue as development wore on. "Compared to Shadows, the world of the Caribbean is a little bit more dense," he says.

"We have more NPCs crammed in," he adds. "A man-of-war easily has at least 10-20 NPCs, so you can imagine the amount of stuff that we have to cram in per square kilometer."

Man-of-wars were the standard seafaring ships for multiple centuries leading up to the 1800s. They all require crews to function, immediately pushing up the number of characters the game needs straight off the bat, since they're the vessels that carry you from island to island around Black Flag, searching for gold, and completing assassinations.

There are many such crews on the open sea, requiring you to deploy the cannons on occasion. But then, once you get to port, there are all the people you encounter roaming the streets and such. It all stacks up, making for a vibrant environment that will have required some amount of attention to get right.

"There was a challenge there later on, but early on, when we tried to make the city seamless, it wasn't too difficult," Fu recalls. Having worked on several Assassin's Creed games by now, Fu's a dab hand at getting them right. We'll find out if this revisit is truly a treasure trove on July 9.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced removed loading screens "between naval gameplay" thanks to "modern hardware," Ubisoft says

Even some 13 years later, Assassin's Creed Black Flag is still arguably one of the most compelling open worlds Ubisoft ever designed, but it was technically ambitious enough for its time that fans like me have been dreaming for years about what it would look like if it was built for modern hardware. Resynced, Ubisoft's ground-up Black Flag remake releasing in July, will answer that question, and ahead of release Ubisoft has dropped a handful of new details about the updated naval exploration.

In a new deep-dive writeup on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced's "naval gameplay," Ubisoft details what's been improved, tweaked, moved around, and faithfully preserved in the remake, with one key highlight being the 2026 game's more "seamless" open world, which apparently won't have loading screens at all during naval exploration.

"The Jackdaw is a character in its own right and will accompany Edward and his crew on their journey throughout the Caribbean," Ubisoft says, referring to the brigantine captained by Black Flag protagonist Edward Kenway. "It's still the ship you know and love, but with some upgrades to improve your experience and create a more seamless, immersive sailing experience."

Chiefly, Ubisoft says the massive increase in processing power in today's development kits has resulted in the complete removal of loading screens while you're out on the open sea.

"A benefit of the latest generation of hardware has been the ability to create seamless open worlds with no loading screens. As such, Resynced has upgraded to modern hardware, allowing us to remove loading screens between naval gameplay and the major cities of the game," reads the writeup.

A couple of new tools will be available in Black Flag Resynced that should make getting around its open world even intuitive. There's the Pathfinder, which will highlight a good route to your destination when you stick a pin on the map and activate it, and then there's Follow Sea, which Ubisoft says it just "a fancy term for autopilot," which will make your ship steer itself when you set a path on the map.

Black Flag Resynced's take on the Caribbean Sea isn't just more seamless and navigable than before - it's also been upgraded with the goal of being "truer to life," and of course that means less predictable and more dangerous. The original game's dynamic weather system has been upgraded to be even more dynamic, with conditions like rogue winds and waves and violent storms being all-new elements of sailing you'll need to deal with. Ubisoft says the remake's weather system will simulate real-life water cycles and "realistically blow the billowing cloth of sails and move or even destroy objects in the world."

Also, lightning! Lightning strikes will now connect from sky to water and potentially even cause AoE damage if you have the misfortune of being near that contact point. Meanwhile, waterspouts; essentially water tornadoes to my scientifically illiterate brain; will pose even further challenges to pirates.

"One of the key pillars we discussed with our Tech and Realization teams was to convey the awe-inspiring power of nature," says lead naval designer Guilhem Marin. "We really cranked up the gameplay of the elements to convey that, despite all of its firepower and tools, the Jackdaw has to respect the fury of the sea or face oblivion."

The "open world spirit of freedom" that defines Resynced was a major focus of GamesRadar+'s recent preview of the Black Flag remake, in which creative director Paul Fu and lead level designer Julian Koch talk about adapting a PS3 game in a way that preserves the spirit of the original while conforming to the modern day standards of games like Assassin's Creed Shadows and Mirage.

We also have a hands-on Black Flag remake preview that takes to the open seas and reports back: "This is Black Flag at its best, the flagship of the Assassin's Creed series' treasure fleet flying over the waves at full sail."

Assassin's Creed Black Flag's Edward Kenway is "a really bad assassin," says Resynced's game director, so Ubisoft had to recapture his "spirit" in the remake

We're back on the high seas for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced this coming July, putting us back in the boots of one Edward Kearney in his quest for treasure. Naturally, he gets to do all the killing you've come to expect, but he's not quite the hero prior protagonists are, at least at the start, and the devs worked to enhance those aspects of his journey.

Indeed, when Black Flag kicks off, Edward's doing it all for the money, never mind to defeat the Templars, but over the course of the game, he becomes more like his forebears in Desmond and Connor. In the original story, [Edward's] a really bad assassin," Richard Knight, game director on Resynced, tells GamesRadar+.

"He's taking deals with Templars, he's taking deals for money, he's doing all these bad things to eventually become this heroic, larger-than-life character," Knight continues. "And the original game nailed that, and we don't want to change that."

A huge part of what made Black Flag fun is playing someone who's both an assassin and a pirate. A killer-for-hire and a wealth-obsessed explorer. Two edges of the same sword that's being plunged into the back of many enemies, and when it came to revisiting the game in light of modern installments like Mirage and Shadows, the goal was to massage these aspects further.

"It's important for us to have that same spirit and flavor of Edward, to tell that same core story, just in greater fidelity, but in a modern gameplay experience too," Knight explains.

He teases that narrative ideas that have been kicking around since the early 2010s have been fleshed out and finished, making this a time capsule, of sorts. As always, keep to the shadows, watch your back, and 'X' marks the spot, in more ways than one.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is "definitely a remake," but its original director "couldn't feel where the original content ends and the new content begins"

Somewhere among the waves of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is a remote island, upon which stands a church. In the original game, that church wasn't there. But its existence in the remake is part of an effort to revitalize the Caribbean, bringing Black Flag up to scratch with modern-era counterparts like Assassin's Creed Shadows and Mirage without sacrificing the classic feel of the original.

With the series having changed almost beyond recognition over the 13 years between original and remake, keeping the core experience recognizable while pulling a PS3-era title in-line with modern Assassin's Creed is no mean feat. But while that church might be just one tiny detail in the context of a full-scale remake, this one isolated, innocuous building helps explain how Resynced is breathing new life into Black Flag's Caribbean.

"In the original Black Flag, the world was expansive - there were a lot of secrets, a lot of activities to do, but there weren't necessarily a lot of stories for the player to discover," says creative director Paul Fu. For him, the church is an example of that kind of story. While he doesn't give away anything else about it, he does reveal that "players might be surprised that when they stumble upon a secret in the open world, Edward has something to say about that that didn't exist in the original game."

Vamos

That's part of an overhaul that'll be felt across the Caribbean. While major settlements like Nassau and Havana have been revitalized, the sea itself has had its own substantial improvement. "We really wanted to revisit the playa," says lead level designer Julian Koch. In the original Black Flag, those small islands that dotted the open ocean "were often templated, with just one chest, one animus fragment." Now, each playa is entirely hand-crafted, and Koch says "every time you have an island that looks a bit different, expect some reward, expect some story, some secrets. Edward comments on every location."

That narrative depth was something Fu wanted to push throughout the game. He points to the original game's Templar Hunts, side quests which sent you all over the map in pursuit of a particular assassination target; "I really liked how they brought you to other cities, so I wanted to have more of that type of activity." That focus on additional missions helps drive players to corners of the map they might never have seen, whether they were present in the original game or are new to the remake. "There's a little bit more of an open-world spirit of freedom" in Resynced as a result, Fu explains - not enough to turn Black Flag into a sprawling, RPG-era Assassin's Creed game, but enough to encourage the spirit of adventure that's key to Edward's journey.

That spirit is something that Koch is also looking to uncover. "Black Flag is a bit codified - each location has its own identity," he explains. But the remake "allowed us to create more diversity." He points to a section of my Black Flag Resynced hands-on session, in which Edward infiltrates a plantation. In the original game, that setting might have felt the same no matter where in the Caribbean you uncovered it. In the remake, "a plantation is still mostly a plantation - when you see one, you know it's a stealth challenge. But now we can make them a bit different, not by changing the layout, but by adding more detail."

That might be via a questline about the warden's pet crocodile, but it could also be in the set-dressing. Now that Ubisoft isn't limited by the memory constraints of two generations ago, it can make sure the same type of location feels completely different depending on where in the Caribbean you find it. Havana and Nassau look and feel completely different, and despite the fact that tech from Assassin's Creed Shadows has helped make Resynced, "you notice how much more chaotic Havana is in comparison to the tidy Japanese cities."

"And that's just stories," Koch continues. New design assets aren't only there to make the Caribbean look good, but to help contextualize Resynced's new gameplay. "What can we do now that Edward can crouch?" he asks. "It sounds very basic, but it actually completely changes your relationship to the Caribbean." A barrel is still a barrel, he says, but they had to be rebuilt so that Edward could hide behind it. "We wanted to approach this as a way to give you more opportunities, being a bit less binary than 'you can either climb up or you stalk in a bush.'

None of these changes are large enough to make Resynced feel like a totally new experience in isolation. In fact, much of it could be missed entirely - optional side content, set-dressing designed to fade into the background, or "mastery moves" that Koch says most players will probably never make full use of. But when you see it as part of a whole, a series of small changes layered seamlessly on top of each other, they make the Caribbean a far richer and more vibrant open world than it was 13 years ago. These changes, small as they might originally seem, "just help you," Fu explains. "They give you another reason to explore and find secrets within a world that you already love."

Set sail for our Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Big Preview for more on the big remake. Or, take a look at our best Assassin's Creed games ranking for what to play next.