Fans of the Assassin’s Creed universe will find it to be getting bigger and better in the upcoming days, weeks months, and even years as Ubisoft has revealed all-new media for the franchise.
If you’ve been longing to see more of the Assassin’s Creed universe, Ubisoft is ready to give it to you, allowing you to explore new stories, meet new personalities, and even find it available in different formats. In today’s announcement, Ubisoft revealed that Assassin’s Creed isn’t just getting new games, but rather, an entire line-up of content across podcasts, webtoons, comics, novels, and manhuas.
To help get Assassin’s Creed fans ready for the upcoming publishing line, they’ve revealed that they’ve launched an official new website for the Assassin’s Creed Stories content, which includes novels, graphic novels, manhuas, webtoons, and a recently released series of podcasts, which helped expand the assassin’s creed universe a bit more.
“With a license as rich as Assassin’s Creed, many creators are excited to offer their vision of the franchise!” explained Aymar Azaïzia, Transmedia Director at Ubisoft Montreal. “It’s a great creative opportunity to publish a work that is relevant to the genre in question and produced by authors or illustrators who are recognized in their field.”
As part of their initiative to release the new content, Ubisoft has teamed up with Aconyte Books, Editis, and Starfish who are developing original novels in their native languages of English, French, and Chinese. You’ll even see all-new graphic novels/comics coming from Glenat who will publish the French graphic novels and Dark Horse Comics who will release the English ones with Ulab releasing the original manhuas.
Ximalaya will be launching its first Assassin’s Creed narrative podcast on the Chinese side while Korean Studio Redice will produce the very first Assassin’s Creed webtoon in the upcoming days. Ubisoft has even listed a few outlines on their transmedia offerings for the series:
- Classics: direct adaptations based on stories from the video games
- Chronicles: new adventures featuring favorite iconic Assassins
- Originals: new narratives featuring new protagonists and time periods
Ubisoft has also revealed that a portion of their newest transmedia content will feature collaborations with talented Asian authors and artists from China, Japan, and Korea, with several of their webtoons and manhuas already being in development as part of their collaboration process, “With so many creators from all over Asia delivering innovative content, a priority for Ubisoft has been to forge new relationships with talented partners in the region”, highlighted Julien Fabre, Associate Director of Publishing at Ubisoft.
The reason behind localization? To make unique stories based on those regions they are told in, to give fans stories that they can connect with, enjoy, and feel their culture is deeply involved with and appreciated when building those experiences. To help fans experience them, Ubisoft has outlined the upcoming releases slated for later this year based on their their medium:
NOVELS:
- ASSASSIN’S CREED® FRAGMENTS YOUNG ADULT TRILOGY (ORIGINALS): Fragments is a new young adult book series developed in partnership with the French publishing house Editis. This action-adventure historical fiction saga will feature teens caught up in the centuries-old Assassin-Templar feud and explore the nature of the relationship between the siblings. Each book in the series will take readers to a different time period and location, with new protagonists. The first volume is set in 19th Century Japan, the second in 13th Century Scotland, and the third in 17th Century France.
- ASSASSIN’S CREED® THE JADE SEAL COLLECTION (ORIGINALS): From the Zhou Dynasty (4th Century BC) to the Ming Dynasty (17th Century), this collection expands our franchise through a range of ten novels exploring Chinese history at large. Emperors, courtiers, legendary martial artists, poets, philosophers, and many other important figures from Chinese history will play their part in this multi-secular fight. New Assassins, but also new archenemies will join the ranks of our franchise from these epic novels written by six well-known Chinese writers and soon to be available in China.
- ASSASSIN’S CREED® THE MING STORM (CHRONICLES): Written by best-selling Chinese author Yan Leisheng, this novel is the start of an action-packed trilogy set in 16th century China featuring Shao Jun , a young Assassin and already a fan favorite from the franchise as the main protagonist of the Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China video game. Aconyte Books, Ubisoft’s key partner for English prose novels, will publish the Ming Storm in the US and Canada on June 1, 2021. More exciting new novels, including a trilogy of books set in the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla universe, are to be released by Aconyte Books in 2022.
ILLUSTRATED FICTION:
- ASSASSIN’S CREED® DYNASTY (MANHUA) (ORIGINALS): First launched as a webcomic in China by local development partner ULAB, Assassin’s Creed Dynasty has already garnered more than 150 million views online and ranked top 3 of the Wuxia genre on Tencent platform. It will soon be available in other territories in paperback. Readers will be able to follow the adventures of Li E, an Assassin trying to save the Tang Dynasty from a civil war. TOKYOPOP will be publishing Assassin’s Creed Dynasty in the USA and Canada, with Volume 1 releasing on September 1, 2021, as an ebook and on January 11, 2022, as a print paperback.
- ASSASSIN’S CREED® VALHALLA: BLOOD BROTHERS (MANHUA) (CHRONICLES): Fans will soon be able to discover the epic tale of two brave Viking brothers in this manhua set in the world of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, not long before the exploits of Eivor the Wolf-Kissed. TOKYOPOP will be publishing the title in the USA and Canada on June 28, 2021, for the ebook and on August 10. 2021 for the print edition.
- ASSASSIN’S CREED® VALHALLA FRENCH GRAPHIC NOVEL (CHRONICLES): Glénat Editions will release this original graphic novel in Fall 2021 in France. Readers will discover the tale of an aspiring Assassin and a Christian monk, as they set out on a quest that will take them from Ravensthorpe to the mystery-filled heights of Scotland.
- ASSASSIN’S CREED® VALHALLA: SONG OF GLORY (CHRONICLES): The comic series, released in single issues last year by Dark Horse comics in the USA and Canada, is launching on April 21, 2021 as a collected hardcover edition. In this prequel to the game, fearless Vikings Eivor and Sigurd embark on separate adventures to show their mettle and seek glory.
- ASSASSIN’S CREED®: BLADE OF SHAO JUN (CHRONICLES): This manga, based on Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China video game and featuring the iconic Assassin Shao Jun, is published by Viz Media in the USA and Canada. The second volume in the series will be released on August 17, 2021. Readers will also discover a new modern-day plot through the story of Lisa, a teenager who falls into a trap set by Abstergo, the modern incarnation of the Templar Order.
DIGITAL:
- ASSASSIN’S CREED® TURBULENCE IN THE MING DYNASTY PODCAST (CHRONICLES): Developed and broadcasted by China’s leading podcast platform Ximalaya, this audio adaptation of the Ming Dynasty novel is voiced by a first-rate cast from the Chinese film industry, including Liu Yan as Shao Jun. Enriched with audio FX and a moving score, this podcast is the perfect format to become fully immersed in China during 16th Century Ming Dynasty.
- WEBTOON (ORIGINALS): This Korean webtoon will serve as a sequel to Assassin’s Creed® Black Flag and expand Edward Kenway’s storyline. It is currently in development with partner Redice.
Those interested in the TOKYOPOP Assassin’s Creed titles will be able to enjoy them as a combined Free Comic Book Day 2021 Gold Tite at the Diamond Comics annual free Comic Book Day event that takes place on Saturday, August 14th, 2021, across participating comic shops in North America.
About the Writer(s):
Dustin is our native video game reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the borders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook today.