A leaked screenshot from an Assassin's Creed spin-off has sparked a statement from Ubisoft and, inadvertently, a potential new Worms game. While Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced and Assassin's Creed Hexe are the main games fans are excited about from the series, Ubisoft is also cooking up several spin-offs to expand the franchise. One of these is a mobile game called Assassin's Creed: Jade, but the other is multiplayer title Assassin's Creed Invictus. The latter has been described as a round-based knockout game akin to Fall Guys, where players battle it out in arenas based on classic locations from the series.
Invictus got some attention recently after a leaker claimed an early playtest of the game was 'awful', but that same leaker has now posted an alleged screenshot, which has caused a lot of controversy. In a post on X, leaker xj0nathan, who previously reported on behind the scenes changes on Hexe, shared an edited watermarked screenshot from the private playtest, showing an assassin character in some kind of gladiatorial arena. 'A big part of the game isn't textured yet, so don't be surprised by the big grey blocks – it's really just to give you a glimpse of what the game looks like right now,' he wrote on X.
This prompted a response from the official Assassin's Creed X account, who described the image as 'misinformation'. In response, Ubisoft wrote: 'Nice try… This might have started as an image from our private test, but it's been heavily altered (most probably with AI). Not great to spread misinformation. For those genuinely curious about the project: we'll share more when the time is right!'
However, this rebuttal sparked an angered reaction from xj0nathan, who claimed he had only 'used AI to remove the watermark and improve the image quality' and to change the colour of the character's costume. 'The game looks 99.99% like the screenshot, sorry guys,' he added. To prove his point, the leaker posted the supposed unedited image, which looks practically identical to the first aside from the altered costume colours. Why he'd want to change the colours, or anything about the image, isn't clear but it's created enough confusion that Ubisoft has managed to sidestep the issue of the screenshot not looking very good – no matter what colour outfit the character is wearing.
Amidst all this online bickering, a separate leaker named EvilLeeker replied to the Invictus leak with an alleged screenshot from a new Worms game, wonderfully codenamed Project Arrakis. The account doesn't have any track record, so take it with a pinch of salt, but the screenshot appears to show some kind of 3D grid-based entry. 'Not [Assassin's Creed] but I wanna join in with the leaks so go nuts (new worms),' they wrote alongside the images, with one showing an alleged Steam page. The last console Worms game was 2020 spin-off Worms Rumble, which was a 2.5D action game. However, the last classic turn-based entry was 2016's Worms W.M.D. A collision of supposed leaks between Assassin's Creed and Worms isn't what we were expecting to wake up to, but the combination is so bizarre, we're inclined to believe there is some stock in the latter.
