Every Assassin’s Creed Game Ranked Before the TV Show Arrives

A video game series can take years, or even decades, to finally cross over to the small screen. But with Assassin’s Creed, the popular Ubisoft franchise is finally ready to leap into live-action. Announced back in 2020, the Netflix adaptation is about to get its showrunners in place to officially move forward with development.

Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Assassin’s Creed will be overseen by Roberto Patino and David Wiener. Patino has been behind such shows as Sons of Anarchy and Westworld, while Wiener was previously in charge of the Paramount+ adaptation of Halo, as well as working on AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead. The two, both in sci-fi and character drama, may have what it takes to keep one of the most storied and expansive gaming franchises at its best.

In a joint statement, the showrunners gushed over the video games and the storytelling possibilities they see on the small screen.

“We’ve been fans of Assassin’s Creed since its launch in 2007,” they said. “Every day that we work on this show, we’re in awe of the scale of the world and the richness of the story it allows us to tell. Underneath all the bullets and mayhem, the Assassin’s Creed franchise drills down to a very human story about identity and purpose and faith and the connections we have with each other over hundreds of years.”

The showrunners have indicated as well that, like many of the best games in the franchise, the upcoming TV series will not just be about the bombast and the action. “Deep down, this is a show about the value of human connection—past, present, and future, across cultures—and the danger of losing those connections,” they continued. “We are grateful to have such a strong team at Ubisoft working on this with us and the full support of Netflix to dig into these themes and create something that resonates with fans everywhere.”

Looking at the history of Assassin’s Creed, the upcoming Netflix series has a lot to live up to. Ever since the game’s debut back in 2007, the series has captivated audiences with its blend of history, stealth-action, and deeper philosophy. Early games focused on a new form of “social stealth” gameplay mechanics set against the backdrop of the Crusades in the Holy Land. But it wasn’t until the series released Assassin’s Creed II and its two direct sequels that it hit its stride. Set during the Italian Renaissance and telling the story of Ezio Auditore, the games featured not only one of the most loved protagonists of the series but the best combination of storytelling, gameplay, and historical detail across the franchise.

The years since then have seen 14 major releases in the series, with each mainline entry (not counting all the various side stories and spinoffs) taking players to a new time and place. So far, the series has covered everything from 18th-century revolutionary America to pirates on the high seas during the golden age of piracy. More recent games have also expanded on the RPG elements to offer massive open-world playgrounds for players to explore, from the Ancient Greece of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to Viking Britain in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

The most recent entry, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, even deals with the sort of long-desired locale the series has promised to players for years—medieval Japan. The long wait for the game paid off, with many considering Shadows a leap forward in quality for the series, due in large part to Ubisoft holding the game back for further development before a rushed release. The hope is that the upcoming Netflix adaptation will be able to hold off long enough to truly do Assassin’s Creed’s live-action premiere the justice it deserves.

A Live-Action Series Based On A Video Game With 14 Titles

Fans are still waiting on more specific details about the show, though. While it has been announced and the showrunners have given their stamp of approval, there is still a lot about the show that Netflix has yet to share. One thing that is being taken as a given is that the series will follow the premise most have come to expect from Assassin’s Creed. Characters in the present day are using some form of genetic memory to relive the lives of their ancestors, who were all involved with a group of vigilante Assassins battling against Templars throughout time.

Whether any of the same characters will appear in both the Netflix series and the most recent release of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is unknown. But since Assassin’s Creed: The Movie—a feature film starring Michael Fassbender and Ben Foster as two modern-day Assassins and Templars—failed to make much of an impression (and bombed critically, if not at the box office), it seems more likely than not that the series will not connect to the events of that film.

One thing that is in the show’s favor is the larger market for video game adaptations. HBO’s The Last of Us proved to fans and critics alike that games can be successfully adapted to the screen in high-quality, affecting ways. Netflix has been particularly attuned to bringing sci-fi and fantasy to audiences across its shows. If Assassin’s Creed can navigate the pitfalls of adapting something as large-scale as the games, the show has all the necessary ingredients to be a winner.

The primary thing that the show will have to figure out is exactly which parts of the massive franchise they want to tell in serialized form. So many different times, locales, and characters have been utilized throughout the games, all connected together by this shared mythos in the modern day. Which portions of the franchise the showrunners want to tell and how they juggle the modern-day narrative with the other storylines will be a balancing act the new showrunners will have to figure out.

Fans can still only speculate as to what the Netflix adaptation will be like and the kind of stories it will tell. A character-driven story that could mesh well with the biggest titles from the series seems likely given the track records of the chosen showrunners. But without casting announcements, a release date, or any other information on the details of what the Netflix series will look like, it’s hard for fans to say if the show will work at all.

Yet just the announcement has given fans hope after years of being told the Netflix adaptation was “coming soon.” The same has been said before, after all. But between the renewed drive of Patino and Wiener at the helm and support from Netflix and Ubisoft, it seems as though Assassin’s Creed may have found the right team and conditions to be a hit in live-action form.

Video game adaptations have a place in the modern pop culture landscape, and it seems as though Netflix and Ubisoft are poised to make the Assassin’s Creed series a part of that next wave if the show’s premise remains true to the philosophical heart of the games that fans have come to love over the past 18 years.