Set Sail for March 2026: A Massive Month for Assassin’s Creed and Pirate Fans
Ubisoft’s FY2026 earnings presentation all but outed a mystery release due by March 31, 2026—and insiders are betting it’s the long-rumored return of Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, slotting in alongside Prince of Persia The Sands of Time and Rainbow Six Mobile.
Ubisoft just quietly did the thing. In its latest earnings presentation, the publisher slid in a mystery game due out before March 31, 2026. No name, just a blank box sitting right next to confirmed titles like 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' and 'Rainbow Six Mobile'. And yes, the worst-kept secret in the room appears to be exactly what you think it is: an 'Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag' remake.
What Ubisoft actually signaled
Insider Gaming spotted the unlabeled title in Ubisoft's FY2026 slides and says multiple sources backed up that it's the long-rumored 'Black Flag' remake. Internally, the target is the week of March 23, 2026. So if you have a soft spot for Edward Kenway and cannon fire, the wait might be down to a handful of months.
That blank box on Ubisoft's slide? Pretty sure it's 'Black Flag' coming back.
Why 'Black Flag', why now
The original launched in 2013 and instantly became a franchise favorite. Edward's arc (chaotic pirate to somewhat principled Assassin) landed, and the open Caribbean with ship-to-ship combat gave the series a second identity. If Ubisoft is looking for a reliable crowd-pleaser to close out a shaky fiscal year, remaking the one with the pirates is not exactly a risky call.
Emphasis on "shaky": Ubisoft has had a rough 2025 financially. Dropping a sure-thing remake in the final fiscal quarter is the kind of move you make when you want the quarter to look healthier.
The remake rumors, cleaned up
Whispers started early 2023 and never really stopped. Things spiked when Edward's original actor, Matt Ryan, appeared to hint at returning during a fan panel in June 2025. According to multiple reports, Ubisoft was not thrilled and pushed back hard over the slip — which, predictably, only made the speculation louder.
Then came September leaks claiming some notable changes. The modern-day segments? Allegedly gone, replaced with more Edward-focused story, including expanded missions featuring Mary Read. Also on the table: mechanics more in line with recent entries — think RPG-style build and gear progression, plus overhauled combat.
Fans are split, obviously. Updating systems and polishing the flow sounds great; stripping out the present-day narrative could sand off part of the game's original texture. Depends which side of the Animus debate you live on.
March 2026 is getting crowded
Ubisoft might be dropping the right game, but the timing is a knife fight. March is suddenly packed, and a lot of publishers seem to have been racing to get out ahead of 'GTA 6' — which was widely expected for May 2026 and is now planned for November. That bottleneck means several big releases are stacked on top of each other instead of spreading out across spring.
- 'Fatal Frame II' remake — March 12, 2026
- 'Crimson Desert' — March 19, 2026
- '007: First Light' — March 27, 2026
- Ubisoft's mystery title (very likely 'Black Flag' remake) — targeting week of March 23, 2026
- 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' remake — reportedly in the same window
The broader Assassin's Creed push
That redacted box is not a one-off. Ubisoft is leaning hard on Assassin's Creed right now. A free, Saudi-funded update for 'Assassin's Creed Mirage' dropped on November 18, 2025. Over in Quebec, the team appears to be in early development on the next big open-world RPG entry, likely continuing the Odyssey/Shadows design lane. Meanwhile, Ubisoft Montreal is deep into 'Assassin's Creed Hexe', which is said to be darker, more narrative-driven, and circling supernatural threads tied to 16th-century witch trials.
Read between the lines and it's pretty clear: remakes, experiments, and multiple mainline projects are mapped out through 2027. Assassin's Creed is doing the heavy lifting for Ubisoft for the next few years.
The takeaway
If the schedule holds, Edward Kenway sails again by late March 2026. The remake angle makes business sense, the reported tweaks could modernize a classic, and the release window is a minefield. Whether ditching the modern-day sections cleans up the pacing or trims away part of the series' DNA — that is the big swing here.