Do you want to play all the Assassin’s Creed games in order? Well, we don’t blame you. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is almost here, which means that many lapsed veterans and newcomers may also want to play other entries of the historical action-adventure video game series for the first time. Needless to say, the full timeline has become complicated over the years, so here’s how to play the Assassin’s Creed games in chronological and release order.
On top of Shadows, we’re currently awaiting updates on all the upcoming Assassin’s Creed games that are in development for all sorts of devices, not just consoles and PC. Moreover, a live-action show is set to come to Netflix in the near future. Hopefully, it will make up for that disappointing movie we got in 2016. In any case, it appears that, while the mainline series is returning to a ‘historical RPG’ approach with Shadows and Codename Hexe as Ubisoft ushers in a new era for the franchise, the powers that be are still interested in expanding the universe beyond video games.
Before we dive into the full chronology of the entire mainline Assassin’s Creed series, we’ll be listing every video game that’s been released so far in release order. This first list includes spinoffs and standalone DLC releases, too. For the sake of brevity (this will take a while anyway), and to focus on the central overarching storyline in an effective way, the chronological order list is sticking to the major console and PC installments only.
HOW TO PLAY THE ASSASSIN’S CREED GAMES IN RELEASE ORDER
There are a ton of Assassin’s Creed games, so if you want to play all of them (spin-offs and mobile outings included), we’ve listed them all below, along with what platform you can find them on.
Here’s a complete list of all the Assassin’s Creed games in release order:
- Assassin’s Creed (2007) – PC, PS3, Xbox 360
- Assassin’s Creed: Altaïr’s Chronicles (2008) – iOS, DS
- Assassin’s Creed II (2009) – PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Switch
- Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery (2009) – DS, iOS
- Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines (2009) – PSP
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (2010) – PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch, PC
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations (2011) – PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch, PC
- Assassin’s Creed III (2012) – PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch, PC
- Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (2012) – PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch, PC
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013) – PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch, PC
- Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry (2014) – PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch, PC
- Assassin’s Creed Rogue (2014) – PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch, PC
- Assassin’s Creed Unity (2014) – PS4, Xbox One, PC
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China (2015) – PS4, Xbox One, PC, PS Vita
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (2015) – PS4, Xbox One, PC
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India (2016) – PS4, Xbox One, PC, PS Vita
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia (2016) – PS4, Xbox One, PC, PS Vita
- Assassin’s Creed Origins (2017) – PS4, Xbox One, PC
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (2018) – PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (2020) – PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage (2023) – PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2025) – PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC
HOW TO PLAY THE ASSASSIN’S CREED GAMES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
Below, we’ve listed all the main installments of the Assassin’s Creed games in chronological order and broken down the timeline so you can get a complete overview of the story.
We’ve made sure that by the end of this page, you’ll be fully caught up with the AC timeline and ready to navigate all the different periods in the franchise before you dive into Ubisoft’s new Animus hub.
Here’s a list of all the Assassin’s Creed games in chronological order:
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
- Assassin’s Creed Origins
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Assassin’s Creed
- Assassin’s Creed II
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
- Assassin’s Creed Rogue
- Assassin’s Creed III
- Assassin’s Creed Unity
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (431 B.C. – 422 B.C.)
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a massive action-adventure RPG that takes players to Ancient Greece and happens almost 400 years before the next entry in the Assassin’s Creed chronology. In this entry, the Assassins and Templars, as seen in other games, don’t exist yet. Instead, the Cult of Kosmos are introduced as the precursors of the series’ bad guys. Players can play as either Alexios or Kassandra, grandchildren of Leonidas of Sparta.
Odyssey is actually more concerned with mythology and the conflicts of the Greek world during the times of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, but it doesn’t neglect the ongoing sci-fi storyline that’s mostly developed during the modern-day sections. Layla Hassan, the present-day character, continued his story arc following Origins’ non-historical events and with the help of a new Animus device.
Read our Assassin’s Creed Odyssey review
Assassin’s Creed Origins (49 B.C. – 38 B.C.)
With Assassin’s Creed Origins, Ubisoft and the franchise’s creative architects aimed to tell the story of how the Assassin Brotherhood was first formed (as the Hidden Ones) and how forerunners of the Templars (the Order of the Ancients) began to expand their influence as their members tried to control the course of history across nations with the help of artifacts that predated human civilization.
The game is mostly set in Egypt during the final phase of the Ptolemaic period, and puts the focus on a Medjay named Bayek of Siwa and his wife Aya. After the murder of their son, a quest for revenge eventually leads them right into a much more important conflict that could reshape the future of Egypt, Rome, and the surrounding territories. This is the entry that introduced RPG elements in a big way and reworked the structure, which had become a bit tired after years of non-stop releases.
Read our Assassin’s Creed Origins review
Assassin’s Creed Mirage (861 – 870)
Originally envisioned as an expansion for Valhalla, Assassin’s Creed Mirage continues the modern-day story of the three previous games (in order of release) while taking the players back to 9th-century Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age. The story focuses on Basim Ibn Ishaq, a character first introduced in Valhalla, as he went from street thief to key member of the Hidden Ones.
The RPG elements were aggressively dialed down in this entry, with the focus put back on stealth, parkour, and assassination mechanics that tried to replicate the style of early installments. It also downplayed the modern-day sci-fi storyline despite some ominous teases about what’s next. The lower price tag and overall size also translated into a far tighter narrative experience for players who thought Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla had taken things a bit too far into sprawling open-world RPG territory.
Read our Assassin’s Creed Mirage review
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (872 – 878)
While Assassin’s Creed Valhalla isn’t entirely set in the British Isles during the Viking expansion, its main goal was to let longtime players, as well as newcomers, experience a big ‘Viking fantasy’ while pushing the Assassin-Templar plot forward alongside the modern-day storyline. Eivor Varinsdottir (man or woman) is the main character, with Layla Hassan still around in the present-day sections.
Needless to say, this third ‘historical RPG’ entry also explored Norse mythology in the same way Odyssey and Origins had done so with their respective settings. Still, clashes between the Vikings looking for a new home and the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms are front and center alongside the Assassin-Templar narrative. And, of course, a more seasoned Basim shows up to guide Eivor into a war that’s been happening in the shadows.
Read our Assassin’s Creed Valhalla review
Assassin’s Creed (1191)
The action-adventure game that started it all was mainly set in 1191, during the times of the Third Crusade in the Holy Land. However, the modern-day storyline was also there from the very beginning and followed regular guy (as far as he knows) Desmond Miles as he’s pulled into the Assassin-Templar conflict that’s been raging for generations. In the 1191 story, Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad is our guy, and unlike other protagonists, he’s quite good at his murderous job when we meet him.
Assassin’s Creed also hit the ground running when it came to the whole ‘powerful artifacts of unknown origin’ plot that fed into the modern-day storyline. This was perhaps Ubisoft and the developers’ master stroke when it came to the marketing campaign, as the whole ‘genetic memory’ and Animus layer of the game was kept mostly a secret until launch.
Assassin’s Creed II (1476 – 1499)
The second Assassin’s Creed game is set roughly 300 years after the original and introduces Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the most developed protagonist in the entire series. During the modern-day sections, players continued to control Desmond Miles as he uncovered more secrets of the Assassin-Templar conflict and what they were after. In the past, a young Ezio sought revenge against the killers of his father and brothers while learning about the Brotherhood and its bigger-than-life goals.
The central narrative takes place in the middle of the Renaissance period in Italy, with Florence and Venice among the many settings that were painstakingly recreated for the game. When it came to systems and mechanics, it was also far meatier than the original and established a richer open-world structure that subsequent entries would upgrade for years.
Read our Assassin’s Creed 2 review
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (1499 – 1507)
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood shocked and wowed everyone back in the day because it was a direct continuation of AC2 that no one was expecting and because it actually had lots of new ideas to add to the pile. While some locations from its predecessor returned, the main setting was Rome, where the local Assassins Guild needed a bit of help dealing with the Borgia family. At the same time, the Italian Wars raged in the background.
Meanwhile, in the present day, Desmond Miles learns of an impending apocalypse that could be stopped with the help of the knowledge left behind by an ancient race that was in contact with the first humans. By this point, the modern-day storyline kind of goes off the rails, and despite some compelling ideas, the general consensus is that it never got back on its feet.
Read our Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood review
Assassin’s Creed Revelations (1511 – 1512)
After a small time jump after the ending of Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed Revelations takes place over the span of two years. An older Ezio travels to Constantinople to find the keys needed to access Altaïr’s library while dealing with the pesky Byzantine Templars during the Ottoman war of succession between Ahmed and Selim, sons of Bayezid II.
Revelations’ was characterized by a deeper, more emotional story that connected Ezio to both the Brotherhood’s past and Desmond in the future. Not all of its plot beats land, but it was a more concise and slightly dialed-down effort after Brotherhood to wrap up this story arc in a more mature way. Since most long-time fans of the series still regard Ezio as the main protagonist of the story, we’d say Ubisoft succeeded here.
Read our Assassin’s Creed Revelations review
Assassin’s Creed Shadows (1579 – ????)
The latest mainline Assassin’s Creed entry is set in a familiar feudal Japan scenario. More specifically, it begins during the Azuchi-Momoyama period, which marked the end of the Sengoku period. If you aren’t familiar with Japanese history, let’s just say this was an intensely bloody civil war time for the country. We also know Nobunaga’s assault on the Iga province in 1581 factors into the plot, but we’ve yet to learn when the full tale ends.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows lets players explore central Japan, with regions like Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka available. It’s also the first installment since Syndicate that allows players to seamlessly control two characters over the course of the same playthrough: Fujibayashi Naoe, a female shinobi, and Yasuke, the legendary African samurai who served Oda Nobunaga. Of course, expect more on the Assassin-Templar conflict.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (1715 – 1722)
While most people refer to it as simply Black Flag, Assassin’s Creed IV is a prequel to III, actually. The story takes place during the Golden Age of Piracy in the West Indies. This one was a fantastic pirate simulator first and a standard AC entry second, which may explain why it continues to be a fan favorite after more than a decade. Barely any modern-day narrative in this one, too.
The protagonist is Edward Kenway, grandfather of AC3’s Connor and, of course, father of Templar antagonist Haytham Kenway. For the most part, Black Flag is the story of a Welsh man who wants to go home after getting more adventures than he bargained for. As for the main cities, you have Havana, Nassau, and Kingston to explore (plus a whole lot of open sea and small islands).
Read our Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag review
Assassin’s Creed Rogue (1752 – 1776)
Assassin’s Creed Rogue had something rather interesting to present with its twist on the Assassin-Templar conflict. The main character is an Irish American privateer named Shay Patrick Cormac, who goes from Assassin to Templar after rejecting some of the Brotherhood’s tactics. Haytham Kenway also shows up and guides him past a certain point.
The story takes place before and during the French and Indian War which had the North American colonies of the British Empire fighting those of the French. Ship-based naval exploration – in the western North Atlantic – was kept around, but the main ‘land maps’ (New York City and the River Valley) are equally important locations in the game. The final twist is that, in 1776, Shay murders the Assassin Charles Dorian, father of Unity’s protagonist Arno, in France.
Read our Assassin’s Creed Rogue review
Assassin’s Creed III (1754 – 1783)
Assassin’s Creed III follows both Haytham Kenway and his son Ratonhnhaké:ton (aka Connor), though the main player character is the latter, who joins the Assassins to both protect the Native American lands and avenge his mother’s death. Of course, he’s soon dragged into a much larger conflict that’s also part of the big American Revolution.
The story is developed over the course of nearly three decades and is mostly told from Connor’s confused perspective. While much of the story takes place in the Frontier, Boston, and New York City, as well as settlements, can be explored. Meanwhile, the present-day storyline that follows Desmond Miles comes to an abrupt end which paved the way for the series’ future… but disappointed most fans in the process.
Read our Assassin’s Creed III review
Assassin’s Creed Unity (1776 – 1794)
Assassin’s Creed Unity, an initially divisive entry that has been reevaluated in recent times, kicks off in Versailles in 1776 when Arno Dorian’s father is murdered, and he’s left an orphan. The funny thing is that he’s adopted by François de la Serre, the French Grand Master of the Templars. No more spoilers here, but things take a turn in 1789 and Arno eventually becomes a member of the Assassin Brotherhood.
Unity allows players to explore Paris and its surroundings during the French Revolution, while the modern-day storyline was… almost nonexistent. Black Flag and Rogue kept it to a minimum after the post-AC3 backlash, but it was Unity (and Syndicate) that dialed it down until Origins came along with a new story arc.
Read our Assassin’s Creed Unity review
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (1868)
Last but not least, we have Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, which explores London in 1868 as the Second Industrial Revolution explodes. Like in Shadows, the player controls two canon characters, twin Assassins Evie and Jacob Frye, who unsurprisingly get into a lot of trouble and are thrown into an Assassin-Templar conflict which has a much bigger reach than what they knew at first.
The story was fairly straightforward in this one, but both the setting and the dynamics between the twins (each with a distinct playstyle) shined. There was, however, a major wrinkle in the form of ‘time anomalies’ that transported players (and the present-day Animus user) to the time of World War I, when Lydia Frye, Jacob’s granddaughter, defended London from German spies.
Read our Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate review
Want more on this iconic series? Check out our ranking of the best Assassin’s Creed games, or read our guide on all the upcoming Ubisoft games heading our way.
