Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Is Opening Pandora’s Box With AC Shadows’ Modern Gameplay Features—at the Cost of What Made It Special

On the surface, a remaster or full-blown remake of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag seems like the safest bet Ubisoft can make. It is one of the most beloved games in the franchise, at least outside the Ezio games. But that’s not to say that the franchise doesn’t have a clear direction. With games like Assassin’s Creed Hexe, the franchise’s future seems to be as safe as ever, but utilizing its past wins makes sense from a business perspective, too.

Unfortunately, every rumor and leak about Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced paints a confusing picture. Ubisoft has yet to confirm it, but come on, the fandom is hyping itself up based on rumors, leaks, and obscure teases. In other words, some of this should be taken with a grain of salt, but it also feels like Ubisoft is gearing up to shadow drop it. Either way, most fans are familiar with the community’s biggest divide. As the franchise has ballooned into bigger open-world RPGs with titles like AC Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla, and Shadows, core features like tight parkour, stealth gameplay, the modern-day story, the Assassin vs. Templar conflict, and others have fallen to the wayside.

With some of the reports and reveals, it seems like Ubisoft is banking on the nostalgia of the game, with improvements, to drive a lot of sales. But, by others, it seems like Ubisoft is trying to make Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced more like the recent Assassin’s Creed games. The argument for it to be one or the other could make sense. Ubisoft could try to push it as nostalgia for an older, beloved game, or it could push it as a modernization, akin to AC Shadows and other games. The head-scratcher is how it is seemingly going in both and neither direction at the same time, opening a Pandora’s box of fan sentiment driven by this longtime community divide.

Image via Ubisoft

How Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is Shaping Up to Be Nostalgia Bait And Modernization at the Same Time

It bears repeating that Ubisoft has confirmed none of this information, but it’s not like the rumors or leaks are subtle. Ubisoft and those associated with the company have seemingly teased the title themselves. In that way, it feels like nostalgia bait. No proper marketing, especially with AC Black Flag Resynced reported to release before March 31, makes a shadow drop seem likely. And, if you’re shadow dropping a game or at least giving it a short marketing cycle, you’re banking on community sentiment around it. The same could be said when Bethesda shadow-dropped Obsidian Remastered. In other words, Ubisoft is betting that “AC Black Flag Remake” sells on its own. And it certainly could.

The Nostalgia Bait of AC Black Flag Resynced

• Faithful Imagining with New Content speaks to fans who want more of that specific world
• Expanded with Cut Content, like Mary Read’s cut storyline, which repeats the same appeal to fans
• Purearts has already teased the Black Flag remake with prior statues. This suggests that plenty of merch, a simple but effective way to capitalize on nostalgia, is likely to come alongside the release of the game.
• It is reportedly led by Ubisoft Singapore, which is noteworthy because of the studio’s contributions to naval combat through the series. In other words, it’s led by the right studio to make this game everything fans should want it to be.

Even through rumors and leaks, the wording and marketing make it sound like a classic Assassin’s Creed game, if improved for 2026. At the same time, Ubisoft is reportedly making efforts to fully modernize the title in terms of the franchise’s latest direction. The least harmless of which, arguably, is the fact that AC Black Flag Resynced is apparently dropping the modern-day segments. Since Desmond’s death, the franchise has struggled to piece together a modern-day direction for the franchise, one that lasts longer than a few games at least, and AC4 Black Flag is arguably the weakest among them. All of this is to say that modern-day defenders, like myself, may understand this change. But the other changes are bigger concerns.

The Modernization of AC Black Flag Resynced

• Loot and Gear stats a la AC Shadows
• A Modern Inventory System
• Combat Reportedly Reworked More Like the RPGs Than the Original

I’ve played AC Black Flag multiple times, and what makes it special is how the pirate trappings work through everything, even combat. Combat when boarding an enemy ship in AC Black Flag is still the best in the pirate video game genre, full stop. I do not see why this combat has to become more like AC Shadows or any of the RPGs. Perhaps it’s easier since it uses the modernized Anvil Engine, but if AC Mirage can be made, a classic take on AC Black Flag could be too.

It’s worth noting that some of the changes are largely positive or, at least, net neutrals. AC Shadows‘ weather system is coming to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, for one, which is one of the best weather systems in all of gaming—at least since Red Dead 2. Meanwhile, Skull and Bones assets are reportedly being repurposed for AC Black Flag, which is a net neutral. Skull and Bones may be Ubisoft’s derided “AAAA game,” but reusing those assets is harmless to the experience and lets Ubisoft apply talent elsewhere. Still, for every choice that is a positive or neutral, there’s a game of tug of war between old school and new school Assassin’s Creeds.

AC Black Flag Resynced May Be Emblematic of Everything Right and Wrong with the AC Franchise

I’ll always love Assassin’s Creed, but let’s be fair: the franchise has one of the worst cases of franchise confusion in gaming. I was there. I understand why Ubisoft pivoted to bigger open-world RPGs for AC Origins, as the yearly releases created high levels of franchise fatigue. Instead of franchise-wide, however, we had years when there was fatigue with individual games. AC Valhalla has a lot to love, but it is easily the most bloated game in the franchise. To Ubisoft’s credit, the direction of games seems to appeal to both sides of the community. There are smaller games like Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Hexe (to be released, of course), which focus on more traditional gameplay elements, but there are still bigger open-world RPGs like Assassin’s Creed Shadows. It’s a solid strategy.

But they are separate games. To try to mesh both schools of thought into one game feels like it’s destined for greatness or destined to widen the gap in the community. We can only wait and see how this manifests, but either way, I’m excited for a “new” Assassin’s Creed game to play in 2026.

Released

October 29, 2013

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence