Ubisoft's remake pause shows nostalgia isn't a strategy

What do you do when your remake sells like gangbusters? If you're Ubisoft, apparently you tell everyone you're not making another one. It sounds absurd, and we think it's the most sensible thing the company has said about Assassin's Creed in years.

In its Fall 2026 update, Jean Guesdon, who leads the franchise's content, was blunt. As Gamekult reports, Black Flag Resynced hit its annual revenue target in just two weeks, and still no other AC remake is currently in development. Teams are already working on the next chapter of the series, including projects nobody has heard of, in new settings with new stories. Ubisoft insists it isn't closing the door. Meanwhile, Valhalla gets a New Game Plus on November 5, and Codename Hexe gets only a promise of real news in 2027.

Nostalgia is a boost, not a roadmap

The easy reading is that Ubisoft is leaving money on the table. We read it the other way. A remake is a great way to remind people why they loved a series. It is a terrible way to prove the series still has something to say. Ubisoft's own survey of players, per Numerama, asked for three things: preserving the series' identity, a story more coherent with its universe, and more regular dialogue with the teams. None of those is "make the old ones again." Two of the three are about what comes next.

There's also a trap in the logic of the hit. If one remake works, the temptation is to run the playbook until the audience tires of it. By declining to confirm a follow-up, even though a remake of the second game is the one Gamekult says everyone is waiting for, Ubisoft avoids turning a strong release into a crutch. It's probably also an admission that the pipeline wasn't built around remakes in the first place.

The Hexe silence is the real story

Here's where we'd stop applauding. Hexe was announced in September 2022. Per Gamekult, its development has been turbulent since the reorganization: the creative director left, then the director, and around 50 production jobs were reportedly cut. Rumor, and we stress it is only rumor, has it that Guesdon wants to tone down the fantasy. Ubisoft's official line, as Screen Rant notes, is "steady progress" with "still work ahead." In our view, that's the language of a project that isn't ready to be judged.

Then there's Invictus. Ubisoft says private testers loved the parkour and verticality but wanted to see more of the pillars that define Assassin's Creed, and the team has spent months adjusting. That's a healthy reaction to feedback. It's also a reminder that, at that stage, the multiplayer spin-off didn't feel enough like Assassin's Creed, and we'd say that identity should have been the starting point, not a patch.

Valhalla's NG+ is the cheap, honest move

The Valhalla New Game Plus, with achievements, runes, Divine-quality gear and a hideout system, is the right kind of nostalgia: it serves players who are already there, for a game Ubisoft says has more than 40 million players, according to Gamingroute. It surely costs far less than a remake and keeps a six-year-old game alive without pretending it's a roadmap.

The shadow over all this is the people. Gamekult points out that the Barcelona team on Resynced was told 51 jobs were going before launch, and that 70 jobs went at Ubisoft Singapore, the studio that developed the game, two weeks ago. Gamekult notes those affected may have been working on Skull and Bones, but a company that cuts jobs at the studio behind its biggest recent hit has little room to present the remake pause as pure selectivity. Nobody should read it as only a creative statement; it's also a company in survival mode.

Our verdict

Pausing is right, provided Ubisoft treats the freed-up time as a debt to pay, not a victory lap. The test is 2027: a Hexe that shows a clear identity, an Invictus that feels like Assassin's Creed, and an anniversary year with more than a logo. If those arrive, Resynced will look like a smart warm-up. If they don't, nobody will be talking about the remake that wasn't made. They'll be asking why the new games needed so many second chances.