Since its inception in 2007, the Assassin's Creed franchise has grown to include 18 released video games. With Assassin's Creed Shadows and Assassin's Creed Jade on the horizon, we've outlined how to play every Assassin's Creed game in order of release and chronologically.
This unique take on the alternate history genre has taken gamers to every era from ancient Egypt to Industrial Revolution-era England, and it shows no signs of slowing down with the long-awaited Japan set Assassin's Creed Shadows set for release this year.
How To Play the Assassin's Creed Games in Release Order
Below is a list of every console-based Assassin's Creed game in release order along with their release years:
- Assassin's Creed (2007)
- Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines (2009)
- Assassin's Creed II (2009)
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2010)
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations (2011)
- Assassin's Creed III (2012)
- Assassin's Creed III: Liberation (2012)
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)
- Assassin's Creed Rogue (2014)
- Assassins Creed Unity (2014)
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China (2015)
- Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015)
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India (2016)
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia (2016)
- Assassin's Creed Origins (2017)
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018)
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla (2020)
- Assassin's Creed Mirage (2023)
- Assassin's Creed Shadows (2024)
- Assassin's Creed Jade (Expected 2025)
How To Play the Assassin's Creed Games in Chronological Order
Below is a list of every console-based Assassin's Creed game in chronological order along with the year the games take place:
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey (431 B.C.–422 B.C.)
- Assassin's Creed Jade (215 B.C.)
- Assassin's Creed Origins (49 B.C.–44 B.C.)
- Assassin's Creed Mirage (861)
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla (872–878)
- Assassin's Creed (1191)
- Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines (1192)
- Assassin's Creed II (1476–1499)
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (1499–1507)
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations (1511–1512)
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China (1526 - 1532)
- Assassin's Creed Shadows (1579)
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (1715–1722)
- Assassin's Creed Rogue (1752–1760)
- Assassin's Creed III (1754–1783)
- Assassin's Creed III: Liberation (1765-1777)
- Assassins Creed Unity (1789–1794)
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India (1841)
- Assassin's Creed Syndicate (1868)
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia (1917-1918)
Breaking Down Every Assassin's Creed Game
Assassin's Creed
- Release Date: November 13, 2007
- Setting: Crusade Age Holy Land
- Year It Takes Place: 1191
- Protagonist: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Released in 2007 is the game that started it all, Assassin's Creed. The action stealth title from Ubisoft Montreal introduced fans to the world of Assassins as players took control of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, a member of the Brotherhood who has been tasked with taking down a rival faction known as the Templars in The Holy Land (what would become Isreal, Palestine, and Syria).
Assassin's Creed II
- Release Date: November 17, 2009
- Setting: Renaissance Venice
- Year It Takes Place: 1476–1499
- Protagonist: Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Following up on the success of Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II was released two years later, this time jumping forward in time by almost 300 years. II sees players taking control of the charming Ezio Auditore da Firenze as he is recruited to the Brotherhood and is sent on a quest to murder Templar targets in 15th-century Venice.
Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
- Release Date: November 17, 2009
- Setting: Cyprus
- Year It Takes Place: 1192
- Protagonist: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Assassin's Creed Bloodline is one of the oft-forgotten games in the long-running franchise, debuting on the same day as Assassin's Creed II, coming to the PlayStation Portable. It told another story centered on Assassin's Creed's main character Altaïr as he becomes a mentor in the Brotherhood, training his mentees in the heart of 12-century Cyprus.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
- Release Date: November 16, 2010
- Setting: Renaissance Rome
- Year It Takes Place: 1499–1507
- Protagonist: Ezio Auditore da Firenze
The second game in what has become known as the Ezio Trilogy is Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Brotherhood follows up on the action of Assassin's Creed II, taking its charismatic main character to the bustling streets of Renaissance-era Rome, this time putting together a Brotherhood of his own.
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
- Release Date: November 15, 2011
- Setting: Ottoman Era Constantinople
- Year It Takes Place: 1511–1512
- Protagonist: Ezio Auditore da Firenze/Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad
Bringing an end to Ezio's journey - and this first era of the franchise - is Assassin's Creed: Revelations. The game was released in November 2015 and sees an older Ezio Auditore head to Constantinople during the height of the Ottoman Empire.
What is most interesting about Revelations is it also sees players take control of Assassin's Creed's Altaïr as Ezio retraces the steps of the once-legendary Assassin.
Assassin's Creed III
- Release Date: October 30, 2012
- Setting: Colonial Era Boston/New York
- Year It Takes Place: 1754–1783
- Protagonist: Connor Kenway
Leaving behind the sights and sounds of Europe, Assassin's Creed III headed west for the very first time. Coming to consoles in October 2012, the third numbered game in the franchise followed a half-Iriquois half-British man who becomes an assassin during the American Revolutionary War to hopefully get revenge on his English Templar father.
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
- Release Date: October 30, 2012
- Setting: 18th-Century French Louisiana
- Year It Takes Place: 1765-1777
- Protagonist: Aveline de Grandpré
Coming to the PlayStation Vita on the same day as Assassin's Creed III, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation was a major swing for the (at that point) five-year-old series. Liberation takes place in 18th-century French Louisiana and features a female protagonist for the first time, following the afro-french Assassin Aveline de Grandpré.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
- Release Date: October 29, 2013
- Setting: Pirate Age Caribbean
- Year It Takes Place: 1715–1722
- Protagonist: Edward Kenway
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag marked the franchise's first game on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One when it hit store shelves in 2013. This time around, players took control of Edward Kenway (a descendant of Connor from Assassin's Creed III), a pirate captain working in the golden age of swashbuckling who takes up arms as an assassin on the high seas of the Caribbean.
Assassin's Creed Rogue
- Release Date: November 11, 2014
- Setting: 18th-Century Appalachia
- Year It Takes Place: 1752–1760
- Protagonist: Shay Patrick Cormac
Assassin's Creed Rogue followed up on the success of Black Flag in 2014, again focusing on ship-to-ship combat and a massive open world; however, this time took gamers to the brisk pine-covered shores of 18th-Century Appalachia. Rogue's main character was another ship captain-turned-assassin known as Shay Patrick Cormac, and the title would be the last released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Assassins Creed Unity
- Release Date: November 11, 2014
- Setting: French Revolution Era Paris
- Year It Takes Place: 1789–1794
- Protagonist: Arno Dorian
Marking the first time Ubisoft and an Assassin's Creed game went all in on next-gen was Assassin's Creed Unity. This PlayStation 4 and Xbox One game would sport one of the most highly-detailed open-world settings seen to that point (despite all the glitches and bugs that came with it), following a French assassin recruit named Arno Dorian who is living in the pressure cooker that was Paris during the French Revolution.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China
- Release Date: April 21, 2015
- Setting: 16th-Century Imperial China
- Year It Takes Place: 1526 - 1532
- Protagonist: Shao Jun
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China kicked off what would become the Assassin's Creed Chronicles trilogy when it came to consoles in April 2015. These were meant to be smaller side-scrolling downloadable Assassin's Creed titles for games to enjoy between bigger entries in the series. China centered on Shao Jun, a female assassin hoping to use the skills of the hidden blade to free her people in 16-century Imperial China.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate
- Release Date: October 23, 2015
- Setting: Industrial Revolution Era London
- Year It Takes Place: 1868
- Protagonist: Jacob/Evie Frye
Released in 2015, Assassin's Creed Syndicate is still the most modern set game in the mainline Assassin's Creed series, taking place during the Second Industrial Revolution in 1860s London, with some incredible flash-forward sequences to World War I. The game also was the first to sport two seamlessly playable protagonists in brother-sister duo Jacob and Evie Frye, a pair of London street rats who were raised in the Brotherhood.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India
- Release Date: January 12, 2016
- Setting: Anglo-Sikh War Era India
- Year It Takes Place: 1841
- Protagonist: Arbaaz Mir
The second in the Chronicles line of Assassin's Creed games was released in January 2016, transporting gamers to 1840s India during the Anglo-Sikh War. The downloadable title features Arbaaz Mir as its main character, an assassin is hellbent on stopping the Templars from taking advantage of the political turmoil in his home country for personal gain.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia
- Release Date: February 9, 2016
- Setting: 1917 Russian Revolution
- Year It Takes Place: 1917-1918
- Protagonist: Nikolai Orelov
The third and final Chronicles game is Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia. Released in February 2016, this side-scrolling adventure follows Nikolai Orelov, a longtime assassin who accepts one more mission from the Brotherhood before he and his family hope to flee from the political pressure cooker that was the Russian Revolution.
Assassin's Creed Origins
- Release Date: October 27, 2017
- Setting: Ancient Egypt
- Year It Takes Place: 49 B.C.–44 B.C.
- Protagonist: Bayek of Siwa
After Assassin's Creed Syndicate provided fans with a more modern take on the Assassin's Creed world, Origins took gamers back to the very beginning of the Order of Assassins. Assassin's Creed Origins (which came to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in October 2017), takes place in Ancient Egypt, centering on Bayek of Siwa, a man out for revenge for the death of his family.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
- Release Date: October 5, 2018
- Setting: Ancient Greece
- Year It Takes Place: 431 B.C.–422 B.C.
- Protagonist: Alexios/Kassandra
Released two years after Origins in 2018, Assassin's Creed Odyssey was yet another trip back in time for fans. This open-world epic leaned even more into the RPG trappings of the last game, allowing gamers to explore Ancient Greece freely, and collect powerful gear and skills while playing as one of two fierce assassins, Alexios or Kassandra.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
- Release Date: November 10, 2020
- Setting: Viking Age Norway/England
- Year It Takes Place:
- Protagonist: Eivor Varinsdottir
The most recent of Ubisoft's massive open-world RPG Assassin's Creed adventures is Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Released in November 2020, this PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S blockbuster sees players living in the shoes of a Viking assassin named Eivor as their clan leaves their home of Norway to settle in Anglo-Saxon England.
Assassin's Creed Mirage
- Release Date: October 5, 2023
- Setting: 9th-Century Baghdad
- Year It Takes Place: 861
- Protagonist: Basim
Assassin's Creed Mirage was released in October 2023 and marked a trip back to the franchise's roots. Taking place in 9th-century Baghdad, Mirage was a scaled-back experience from the massive open-world RPGs the series has become known for. Feeling much more like Assassin's Creed 1 or 2, this modern action stealth title lets players take control of Basin as he joins the order of the Hidden Ones to become an assassin.
Assassin's Creed Shadows
- Release Date: November 15, 2024
- Setting: Feudal Japan
- Year It Takes Place: 1579
- Protagonist: Naoe/Yasuke
Not yet released, but expected to hit store shelves in November of this year, is Assassin's Creed: Shadows. Shadows is the latest open-world RPG-style Assassin's Creed game and will finally take the franchise to Feudal Japan during the age of samurai (something fans have wanted for years). This time, gamers will embody two characters, a sleek stealthy shinobi known as Naoue and the real-life first Black samurai, Yasuke.
Assassin's Creed Jade
- Release Date: Expected 2025
- Setting: Quin Dynasty China
- Year It Takes Place: 215 B.C.
- Protagonist: Xia
Assassin's Creed Jade is the upcoming mobile game from Ubisoft, marking the first full-scale Assassin's Creed title to come to mobile platforms. The game is expected to come sometime in 2025 and will follow Xia a young assassin making a name for themselves during the boom of ancient technology in Quin Dynasty China.
Assassin's Creed: Shadows comes to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 15.
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