Assassin's Creed Empire Screenshot Leak Shows Off Crafting and Egypt Setting

Ubisoft may be adamant to take all the time necessary to make new instalments in Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry worth your while, but that hasn’t stopped screenshots of the former surfacing on the Internet. The next Assassin’s Creed game, codenamed Assassin’s Creed Empire will, as earlier reports have suggested, take place in Egypt. What’s more is that it brings crafting to the series as well.

According to French game site Jeux Video, the screenshot is a wireframe - a working skeleton of an in-game menu along with a final render of what it could be. It shows off a pyramid which possibly confirms the Egyptian setting and crafting being a game feature.

(Also see: No Assassin's Creed This Year, Watch Dogs 2 to Take Its Place?)

Earlier in the year, sources speaking to gaming blog Kotaku, and those on 4Chan compiled on gaming forum NeoGAF claim that we will not see a mainline Assassin's Creed game this year, instead opting for a 2017 release. This however, will not impact the already announced side scrolling stealth Assassin's Creed Chronicles games set in India and Russia. What's more is that the new mainline Assassin's Creed game is set in Egypt.

"[The game will take place in] Egypt. There won't be an AC in 2016. You may screen cap this and refer to it when nothing is shown in E3 2016. You'll have to wait until 2017 for it. The reason: It will be a complete revamp of the series. The game is going for a Witcher feel, with player progression, freeform combat system. Horse is back, and boats too. It's made by the Black Flag team. You may leave any question you want answered," reads a post on 4chan from a user who claims to be a Ubisoft developer.

(Also see: You Might Not Get a New Assassin's Creed Game This Year)

The Egyptian setting was also corroborated by Kotaku's Jason Schreier. 

"Although I haven't been able to confirm the veracity of this 4chan poster--whose posts are compiled on NeoGAF here--everything he wrote matches up with what I've heard independently for months. I'd heard last year from three different people familiar with goings-on at Ubisoft that the next big Assassin's Creed would be set in ancient Egypt," wrote Schreier. "Since this morning, two other independent sources have contacted me to corroborate that. I heard about the code name Empire from two of those sources. Three of them told me the game would indeed launch in 2017."

In the past, Kotaku has been accurate with what to expect from Ubisoft. December 2014 saw the blog break news of Assassin's Creed Syndicate's existence (codenamed: Victory). Schreier goes on to state that we can expect a sequel to 2014's open-world hacking adventure Watch Dogs set in San Francisco (the first game was set in Chicago) in its place.

Would you play an Assassin's Creed game set in Egypt or has franchise fatigue well and truly set in? Let us know in the comments.