Assassin’s Creed Mirage aims to take players back to the series’ roots both in its gameplay and setting. We’re back to the Middle East, exploring 9th-century Baghdad as hooded assassin, Basim, in a story that takes place 20 years prior to the events of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, where we first meet the character.
Stealth, parkour and the domed buildings of a sprawling Arabian metropolis, with the RPG elements and new combat mechanics rolled back? Sounds good to me!
But it’s not just good news, unfortunately. It appears that the game will no be coming to Steam, or at least not at launch. Currently you’re able to pre-order the game on Xbox, PlayStation and PC. However, PC players can only purchase the game directly from Ubisoft or on the Epic Games Store. There is no Steam option.
This is both puzzling and frustrating. Many other Assassin’s Creed games are already on Steam, and many fans of the franchise would prefer not to buy the game from a different storefront with its own launcher. This will, unfortunately, almost certainly hurt the game’s sales on PC.
It’s unclear at this time if Epic and Ubisoft have worked out some kind of limited-time exclusivity deal, which could mean that Mirage will eventually come to Steam in six months or a year (or thereabouts). That seems likely, however. I’ve reached out to Ubisoft for clarification and will update this post if and when I learn more.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage launches on October 12th, 2023.
