Assassin’s Creed: Mirage is launching earlier than expected

Ubisoft has been consistently tight-lipped about its upcoming slate of Assassin’s Creed games. But every once in a while, the stars align and some truly huge news drops—and the fact that it’s good news is even more miraculous.

The release date for Assassin’s Creed: Mirage has been moved up a full week, Ubisoft announced today. It will now release on Oct. 5 instead of Oct. 12.

It is often said that those who try to please everyone end up pleasing no one. Such has been the case with the Assassin’s Creed series, which in recent years has grown increasingly broad and, some would argue, somewhat diluted as a result. The upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, on the other hand, promises to be a return to the series’ more focused, stealthy roots in terms of both setting (who doesn’t miss the original game’s Masyaf?) and gameplay, making it hotly anticipated among the series’ more hardcore fan base. 

So today is a good day for those hardcore fans. Not only has AC:M gone gold, meaning the game is essentially complete from start to finish precluding any surprise day-one patches, but its release date has been moved up an entire week, meaning players will be able to experience Basim Ibn Ishaq’s story that much sooner. 

Related: Assassin’s Creed Mirage will have similar length to series’ best entries

Basim was first introduced as a supporting character in the unconscionably massive Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and served as a callback to the origins of both the Assassin’s Creed games themselves and their eponymous Assassin Brotherhood. It seems Ubisoft has decided to double down on this approach, and Basim’s very own game consciously strives to emulate the feel of the first few entries in the series with big, open assassination missions, an arsenal of stealthy tools like smoke bombs, a densely packed city setting, and—big sigh of relief here—the removal of the RPG mechanics that were first introduced in Assassin’s Creed: Origins. No more grinding to get a Hidden Blade that does 70 damage instead of 68.

There is still a glut of Assassin’s Creed projects on the horizon, and many are looking to Mirage as a sign of things to come. With any luck, it’ll be a mix of the familiar, the modern, and the entirely new, taking players back to an altogether simpler era.