Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag remake reportedly in the works

Let’s face it, being a pirate is way more fun than eavesdropping on Templars. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is probably the best Ubisoft’s stab-happy series has ever been, and reports are circulating that it’s coming back in facelifted form. 

The info comes via two unnamed sources speaking to Kotaku, who claim that Ubisoft’s Singapore studio is leading development on a remake of the 2013 open world pirate adventure, but it’s currently in the very earliest stages and won’t be released for several years yet. Ubisoft Singapore has been at the forefront of iterating the ocean tech that features in recent Assassin's Creed games, and also Ubisoft’s long-awaited Skull and Bones.

And it’s the status of Skull and Bones that makes this report, if true, a bit strange. First planned as an expansion to Black Flag, which released a decade ago remember, it was then reimagined as an MMO, and then something else again. It’s been delayed six times. 

If you’ve been following the saga, you’re probably saying to yourself: “Oh, well they’re just taking Skull and Bones and turning it into a Black Flag remake.” That would make a lot of sense at this point, wouldn’t it? 

But no, Skull and Bones as we know it - an open world pirate game with no direct affiliation to Black Flag - is still planning to release a beta phase this August. 

For anyone who’s had a tough decade and has thus completely forgotten everything about 2013, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag put you in the crusty boots of Edward Kenway, a swashbuckler and guyliner aficionado who finds himself stranded on a desert island when the consequences of his petty criminal deeds catch up with him. The obvious solution is to become the most fearsomely powerful pirate of the 18th century, commandeering a ship and crew, amassing an impressive repertoire of sea shanties, and going about stabbing people. 

But would a remake of this experience hit different now, since we’ve been treated to Sea of Thieves' multiplayer take on that gameplay loop? And with Skull and Bones set to release in the intervening years too? Almost certainly, but nostalgia’s a hell of a drug. 

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