The news comes from Reddit, where a user named nstav13 shared a particularly lengthy post on the possibility for a future Assassin’s Creed game to be based in China. They don’t reckon it will be the next one, mind - that one is going to be on the Black Death, according to their brain machinations - but that it could potentially be the one after. You can check out the concept art below. It’s a couple of years old - concept art is usually one of the first parts of development - but it resurfaced recently and is worth another look now that Valhalla is almost here.
The above images come from John Bigorgne’s ArtStation account. “[The images have] the exact same naming convention as concept art for ‘Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok’ which became Valhalla (and the concept arts for which were confirmed to be part of Valhalla),” writes nstav13. “John Bigorgne works for Ubi Montreal and has worked on Lineage and Syndicate as a concept artist. It seems very reasonable that he could have made some art of China as well. So now that we can pretty much confirm that this is actual concept art, not fan art like claimed.” Now, I am no historian, and I actually think the second image is sufficiently versatile as to be applicable anywhere - an old, spirally tree like that has as much Yggdrasil vibes as it does any other concrete cultural ties. The former image is more worth investigating, which nstav13 went on to do. “The fortress is a Chinese fort, not a Japanese castle,” they wrote. “The Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties built similar looking massive forts.” “As you can see in these links, Chinese forts would often have a small building and cover over the gate and small buildings on turrets and towers on the outer walls, with the main keeps and structures well within the walls. “The walls for the Chinese forts were often straight or a flat angle. Meanwhile, Japanese Castles would sit directly on the walls, using it to elevate the main castle and had a heavier reliance on curvatures in their base and walls than Chinese forts. You can also see some subtle differences in the way the roofs spread out over open areas.” The post also goes into armor, weaponry, and the inkwashed art style used, concluding in each case that the concept art is based on Medieval China. Again, I am by no means an expert, but the paintings belong to an official Assassin’s Creed concept artist and have been interpreted as signs of an upcoming Assassin’s Creed game set in China. The next game in the iconic series, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, is scheduled to launch for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia on November 17.
