Assassin’s Creed Emerald Leak Points to a Bigger Multiplayer Shift at Ubisoft

A new report suggests that the next wave of multiplayer plans in the Assassin's Creed series is starting to take shape, and you're looking at something called Project Emerald. It's being developed at Ubisoft and is expected to arrive shortly after another project codenamed Stardust, which is believed to be tied to an Assassin's Creed 1 remake.

Emerald is being positioned as another major multiplayer entry, and it reportedly includes a long-term support plan of around 5 years if it performs well internally. Some of the earlier multiplayer ideas floating around Ubisoft, including projects codenamed Raid and Echos, seem to have been merged or partially canceled as this direction gets refined.

Alongside that, you're also looking at another upcoming multiplayer title in 2026 called Assassin's Creed codename Invictus. That one is expected to take a much lighter direction, being described as a party-style game inspired by Fall Guys, essentially putting an Assassin's Creed twist on a chaotic mini-game-focused experience.

Where things get more interesting is with what Project Emerald might actually be.

Early descriptions suggest it's leaning heavily into a PvE structure. In one version of the concept, you would be teaming up with other players in structured raid-style missions, possibly taking on large-scale enemies or even mythical-style encounters in dungeon-like runs.

Another interpretation places it closer to an extraction-style PvE experience. In that setup, you would be moving through large open areas, collecting resources, crafting gear, and taking on specific targets rather than focusing purely on looting. Maybe the goal is to hunt down NPC targets (like Templar figures) in certain zones and then extract safely once the mission is complete, instead of just grabbing stuff and running away.

That structure starts to sound closer to a bounty-hunting loop, where you enter a map, track a target, complete the kill, and then try to make it out with rewards like XP, currency, and gear. It's a more focused loop compared to traditional open-ended survival extraction formats.

The idea of PvP being added into the mix also comes up, especially when comparing it to how other extraction games evolved.

PvE-only gameplay was sometimes considered not tense enough compared to other games like it, so PvP elements were added to increase the stakes. Arc Raiders is one such example that is often presented in discussions, as it originally experimented with a PvE direction before leaning into PvP elements for a more competitive experience.

That kind of shift is something you can see happening here as well. If Emerald starts as PvE, it could eventually evolve into a PvPvE format, where you're not only dealing with enemies in the world but also other players competing for the same targets, loot, or extraction routes. That would also connect back to older multiplayer systems from Assassin's Creed, which often focused on stealth, tracking, and cat-and-mouse style encounters.

In that kind of setup, you'd be entering a shared world with contracts or objectives, and other players would be doing the same thing. You might cooperate at times, but you could also end up betraying each other or fighting over rewards. Looting could still play a role, but more as a tool for upgrading your gear between runs rather than the entire focus of the gameplay loop.

Crafting and progression also seem like core parts of the structure. You'd likely be returning to a base or hub area where you upgrade weapons like smoke bombs, throwing tools, blades, and other assassin-style equipment before heading back out on missions.

There's also discussion around how engine choices might impact all of these elements.

Unreal Engine 5 is increasingly being used across multiple Ubisoft projects, including upcoming titles like the next Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon entry and other multiplayer experiments. That shift suggests that newer infrastructure may be better suited to massive multiplayer systems than older internal engines.

From a creative point of view, Ubisoft has a huge library of existing Assassin's Creed settings, characters, and assets that can be repurposed or reimagined in a multiplayer setting. That gives Emerald a lot of flexibility in terms of maps, historical eras, and customization options if the project scales up.

At its core, the current version of Emerald is still primarily a PvE experience under the Raid codename. The idea would be simple: team up with other assassins, enter controlled mission zones, eliminate targets like Templar leaders, and extract with rewards that help you level up and improve your loadout over time.

Even with that foundation, there's a strong sense that the direction could still change, especially as Ubisoft watches how other multiplayer extraction-style games evolve in the market. The success of competing titles in the genre has already influenced design shifts elsewhere, and similar adjustments could occur here as development progresses.

For now, Project Emerald is in an early, flexible stage, with multiple possible directions still available, ranging from pure PvE raids to a more competitive PvPvE hybrid that blends stealth, extraction, and player interaction into a shared world structure.