Assassin’s Creed Hexe just got a lot more interesting. According to recent reports, Benoit Richer, the game director behind Batman: Arkham Origins, is leading development on Ubisoft’s most ambitious and darkest Assassin’s Creed entry yet. Richer previously directed Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and has worked at Ubisoft since the early 2000s, but his experience crafting the tense, atmospheric world of Arkham Origins hints that Hexe will be something dramatically different from the bloated RPG formula that’s dominated recent entries.
The Arkham Origins Connection
Batman: Arkham Origins doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Released in 2013 by WB Games Montreal while Rocksteady worked on Arkham Knight, Origins delivered a grittier, more personal Batman story set on Christmas Eve. The game featured memorable boss fights, including the legendary Deathstroke battle that remains one of the best combat encounters in any superhero game. It prioritized storytelling and atmosphere over spectacle, which is exactly what Assassin’s Creed needs right now.
Richer’s LinkedIn profile confirms he’s currently serving as game director for Assassin’s Creed Hexe at Ubisoft Montreal. His experience spans multiple franchises, including lead level design work on Rainbow Six and Far Cry games dating back to 2000. But it’s his work on Arkham Origins and Valhalla that makes him the perfect choice for Hexe’s dark witch-trial setting.
Valhalla had some of the creepiest, most unsettling moments in Assassin’s Creed history. The Daughters of Lerion boss fights, the Druid expansion’s dark rituals, and the Grendel quest all delivered genuine horror. If Richer can take those isolated scary moments and build an entire game around that atmosphere, Hexe could be the franchise-defining experience Ubisoft desperately needs after Shadows’ rocky launch.
What We Know About Hexe
Assassin’s Creed Hexe was first revealed during Ubisoft Forward in September 2022 with a brief 30-second teaser. The trailer showed a camera tilting down through tangled branches in a misty forest while dogs barked in the distance. Eventually, the Assassin’s Creed logo appeared made of twigs and twine, styled like the creepy stick symbols from The Blair Witch Project. The word Hexe means witch in German, immediately establishing the game’s occult themes.
According to multiple reports, Hexe takes place during the 16th century in the Holy Roman Empire during the height of witch trials. Players control Elsa, a female protagonist with supernatural abilities who can cast spells, possess animals like cats to distract guards, and use occult powers that mark her as dangerous. After witchcraft was declared a crime by the empire in 1532, thousands of women were executed across what is now Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, many with no historical record of their deaths.
The setting offers massive potential for paranoia-driven gameplay. You’re controlling someone whose very existence is illegal, whose abilities would get her burned at the stake if discovered. Stealth isn’t just a gameplay mechanic, it’s survival. Getting spotted doesn’t just mean combat, it means being hunted by witch hunters and religious zealots convinced you’re demonic.
Gameplay Changes Everything
Here’s where Hexe gets really exciting. Reports suggest the game will be more linear than recent Assassin’s Creed titles, similar to the original games. That means handcrafted levels instead of massive empty open worlds filled with question marks. It means focused storytelling instead of 100-hour grinds bloated with fetch quests. Ubisoft Montreal is reportedly building smaller but far denser maps where every street, basement, and forest has purpose.
The game will allegedly feature a fear system similar to the Jack the Ripper DLC from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. That expansion let players terrorize enemies, using fear as a weapon to control crowds and create chaos. In a witch-hunt setting where superstition and paranoia reign, a fear mechanic could be incredible. Imagine casting spells that make guards hallucinate demons, or using supernatural abilities to create mass hysteria that lets you slip away unnoticed.
Leaked footage reportedly showed Elsa being chased by 16th-century German soldiers through dark, gloomy city streets before casting a spell to possess a cat. The player then controlled the cat, using it to distract guards. If that’s real, it represents a radical departure from recent AC games where combat was always an easy option. Hexe sounds like it’s forcing players to think creatively, to use supernatural tools instead of just fighting through problems.
The Creative Team Behind It
Richer isn’t working alone. Darby McDevitt, the acclaimed writer behind Assassin’s Creed Revelations and Black Flag, is handling the narrative. McDevitt understands how to balance historical fiction with the series’ sci-fi Isu mythology better than almost anyone at Ubisoft. His stories have emotional weight and consequences, something recent entries often lack.
Cheyenne Pualani Morrin, who contributed to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor, serves as lead side content writer. That’s significant because side content in recent AC games has been terrible, filled with repetitive activities that exist only to pad playtime. Having someone with experience crafting meaningful optional content could dramatically improve the experience.
The team at Ubisoft Montreal includes veterans who worked on Origins, Valhalla, and Black Flag, some of the franchise’s most identity-defining games. This isn’t a secondary studio handling a spin-off. Montreal is treating Hexe as a major release, a chance to reinvent what Assassin’s Creed can be after years of following the same open-world RPG formula.
Why This Could Save Assassins Creed
The franchise is in trouble. Assassin’s Creed Shadows launched to controversy and mixed reception. The RPG formula that worked for Origins and Odyssey has overstayed its welcome. Players are tired of massive maps filled with nothing, gear grinding that feels like MMO busywork, and stories that take 80 hours to tell 20 hours worth of plot. The series lost its identity chasing Witcher 3 and Ghost of Tsushima instead of being uniquely Assassin’s Creed.
Hexe represents a complete philosophy shift. Linear instead of open world. Supernatural powers instead of generic combat. Paranoia and fear instead of power fantasy. A lone female protagonist instead of binary gender choices that affect nothing. Executive producer Marc-Alexis Cote described Hexe as a very different type of Assassin’s Creed game, and everything we’ve heard supports that claim.
The witch-trial setting is perfect for what made early Assassin’s Creed great: blending into crowds, operating from the shadows, using stealth and subterfuge instead of overwhelming force. You can’t just climb a tower and clear outposts with a bow. You’re hunted, vulnerable, forced to be clever. That tension, that feeling of being one mistake away from disaster, has been missing from AC for years.
The Release Timeline Question
When Hexe actually releases remains unclear. Ubisoft first mentioned the game in January 2025 for the first time in over two years, confirming it would be added to The Animus Hub, the launcher connecting all modern Assassin’s Creed games. Reports suggest a 2026 or 2027 release, though some insiders lean toward late 2026.
However, Ubisoft has been delaying games to give them more development time after Shadows struggled. Far Cry 7, Ghost Recon, and other major titles have been pushed back. Hexe could easily slip to 2027 if the team needs more time, especially since it’s reportedly being built on new systems and mechanics that require extensive testing.
There’s also the GTA 6 factor. Rockstar’s long-awaited sequel is scheduled for 2026, and every publisher is terrified of competing with it. Ubisoft might strategically delay Hexe to 2027 to avoid getting buried. Better to launch when you can shine than get lost in GTA 6’s shadow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is directing Assassin’s Creed Hexe?
Benoit Richer is the game director for Assassin’s Creed Hexe. Richer previously directed Batman: Arkham Origins and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and has worked at Ubisoft since the early 2000s on franchises including Rainbow Six and Far Cry.
What is Assassin’s Creed Hexe about?
Hexe is set during 16th-century witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire. Players control Elsa, a female protagonist with supernatural abilities who can cast spells and possess animals. The game explores themes of paranoia, persecution, and occult powers during one of Europe’s darkest historical periods.
Will Assassin’s Creed Hexe be open world?
Reports suggest Hexe will be more linear than recent AC games, similar to the original Assassin’s Creed titles. Instead of massive open worlds, the game will feature smaller but denser maps with handcrafted environments and focused storytelling.
When will Assassin’s Creed Hexe be released?
No official release date has been announced. Reports suggest a late 2026 or 2027 release window. Ubisoft confirmed in January 2025 that Hexe will be added to The Animus Hub launcher, making it the next major AC game after Shadows.
What supernatural powers will Hexe have?
Leaked reports mention abilities like possessing animals such as cats, casting spells to distract guards, and using witchcraft-themed powers tied to the witch-trial setting. The game allegedly includes a fear system similar to the Jack the Ripper DLC from AC Syndicate.
Will there be modern-day sections in Hexe?
Ubisoft has not confirmed whether Hexe will include modern-day gameplay. Recent AC games have minimized these sections, and with the introduction of The Animus Hub as connective tissue between games, traditional modern-day sequences may be reduced or eliminated.
Is Hexe connected to other Assassin’s Creed games?
Hexe is part of the mainline Assassin’s Creed franchise and will integrate with The Animus Hub launcher. Story connections to other games remain unclear, though writer Darby McDevitt has extensive experience weaving AC lore across multiple titles.
What platforms will Assassin’s Creed Hexe be on?
Platforms have not been officially announced, but the game is expected to launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Given its likely 2026 or 2027 release, last-gen console versions seem unlikely.
A Risk Worth Taking
Ubisoft is taking a genuine risk with Hexe. After years of massive open-world RPGs that sold tens of millions of copies, pivoting to a more linear, atmospheric, horror-tinged experience could alienate players expecting another Valhalla or Odyssey. The witch-trial setting is darker and more controversial than typical AC fare. Supernatural powers push the series further into fantasy territory that some fans reject.
But that’s exactly why Hexe matters. The franchise needs reinvention. It needs creative risks. It needs to remember that Assassin’s Creed was never about being the biggest RPG with the longest playtime. It was about exploring historical periods through stealth, parkour, and hidden blade assassinations. It was about conspiracy theories and secret societies operating in the shadows of real events. Hexe’s witch trials offer all of that.
Benoit Richer proved with Arkham Origins that he can handle dark, atmospheric storytelling with meaningful boss encounters and personal stakes. His work on Valhalla showed he understands how to inject horror into the AC formula. If anyone can pull off a witch-trial Assassin’s Creed that feels genuinely unsettling while still being fun to play, it’s him.
The biggest question is whether Ubisoft will commit fully to the vision. Will they let Richer and McDevitt make a 20-hour focused experience, or will corporate pressure demand a 100-hour content bloat? Will they embrace the horror elements, or soften them to chase broader appeal? Will they trust that players want something different, or force Hexe to conform to the recent formula?
If Ubisoft gets out of its own way and lets the creative team execute their vision, Assassin’s Creed Hexe could be the best game in the franchise since Black Flag. A dark, supernatural, linear experience set during witch trials with a vulnerable protagonist who must rely on stealth and occult powers to survive sounds incredible. After years of safe, predictable entries, Hexe represents genuine creative ambition. Let’s hope Ubisoft doesn’t ruin it by making it safe.