This Week at Ubisoft: New Assassin’s Creed Novel Launches, Rainbow Six Siege Teases Year 7 Season 3

A Brutal Swarm is inbound with the impending reveal of Rainbow Six Siege's next Season, and the release of a new novel set in Victorian London gives Assassin's Creed fans a new story to dive into this week. Check it out in our recap of Ubisoft news from August 15-19:

"Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy" Novel Out Now

Assassin's Creed fans can leap into a new original story this week with "Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy," a novel set in London in 1851, during the Great Exhibition. Check out our interview with Sunday Times bestselling author Kate Heartfield, who spins a tale of a jaded Assassin, a young acrobat, proto-computer programmer Ada Lovelace, and a Templar plot to destabilize Europe.

Rainbow Six Siege Teases Operation Brutal Swarm Reveal on August 21

Year 7 Season 3 of Rainbow Six Siege, titled Operation Brutal Swarm, is coming soon. To find out what that name portends and what's in store for the coming Season, be sure to tune in to the full reveal on August 21 at twitch.tv/Rainbow6 (and keep an eye on Rainbow Six Siege's official Twitter for exact times).

Ubisoft+ Spotlight - Assassin's Creed Revelations

(Editorial note: This is a series of quick weekly highlights written by our News team writers that feature games available with a Ubisoft+ subscription. We hope you'll enjoy reminiscing with us, or perhaps discover something new.)

Mikel Reparaz, Editor: What do you do when a lifelong hunt for revenge draws to a close? Where do you go once you've conquered Rome? If you're Ezio Auditore da Firenze, you head to Constantinople, the heart of the Ottoman Empire, in search of a new purpose. In Assassin's Creed Revelations, the now-graying Ezio follows in the footsteps of the series' first hero - Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad - to find a lost Assassin vault under Masyaf. The vault's keys are hidden across Constantinople, however, and each one contains one of Altair's memories for Ezio to relive - which also gives players a clear sense of what happened to Altair after the events of Assassin's Creed.

This nested approach to storytelling - Altair's story within Ezio's story, within the modern-day story of Desmond, who spends this game trapped in a puzzle-filled simulation while his body lies comatose - drives an adventure that introduces all sorts of new tricks and tools for Ezio to deploy against the unsuspecting Byzantine Templars. There's the Hookblade, a curved variation on the Hidden Blade that lets Ezio zipline, throw opponents, and extend his reach while climbing. Ezio can also craft a variety of throwable bombs to distract, stun, or kill enemies, and if he ever jumps from a high place with nothing to break his fall, keeping a supply of parachutes on hand ensures a safe landing in a pinch.

Ezio's quest for the keys also brings him in contact with the Ottoman Assassins, who need his guidance as Mentor to rebuild their order. This involves building up individual Assassins from recruit to Master, as well as taking back Assassin dens from the Templars, and commanding squads of Assassin defenders to keep those dens safe. Assassin's Creed Revelations is a refinement of the Ezio trilogy's gameplay that gives the story a crashing conclusion and a quiet coda, and you can discover it right now with a Ubisoft+ subscription.

Game Updates

Roller Champions deployed a mid-Season title update on August 15, which includes the following changes:

CROSSPLAY INVITES

• Players can now invite Ubisoft Connect friends who are playing on other platforms, in addition to their current platform, through the Invite Friend menu.
• Form a cross-platform group to play any game mode together, including custom match!
• Make sure that you and your friends have the Crossplay setting enabled, in order to see each other in the menu.

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed an issue where controls could become unresponsive upon rejoining a match.
• Players can no longer get stuck in a closed goal after denying a score.
• AI Players will now pass the ball to teammates not directly in front of them.
• Custom Match AI Players will no longer get stuck under the goal.

COSMETICS

• Adjusted several cases of too-dark shadows and too-bright highlights in the customizations menu.
• Fixed an issue where some customization items did not match their previews when in match.

SPECTATOR MODE

• Fixed an issue causing an extended loading screen after spectating a match.
• Changing to the "Skater Camera" while using the "Action Camera" now properly swaps the camera.
• Fixed an issue where the Spectator Action Camera distance would reset whenever a player grabbed the ball.

UI/UX

• Players will no longer see the number of fans each player has during the match intro.
• AI Players can now be removed from custom match lobbies.
• Fans and Roller Pass progress now properly update following a match.
• Switch players will now receive a message if an incorrect date and time setting prevents them from accessing the game.
• Improved reliability of accepting invites to in-progress matches.
• AI Players can now be removed from custom match lobbies.
• The scoreboard in the Skatepark is now sorted from highest to lowest score.
• Multiple causes of crashes or disconnections.