This Week at Ubisoft: Assassin’s Creed Mirage Announced, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Surpasses 10 Million Players

This week at Ubisoft, the Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle team announced that more than 10 million people have played the game, and revealed more about the process of developing Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, which launches on October 20. Likewise, Rocksmith+ announced a September 6 PC launch date, and Ubisoft+ is here to help students get ready to go back to school. Check out this week's roundup of Ubisoft news from August 27 - September 1:

Assassin's Creed Mirage Announced

Assassin's Creed Mirage is the next Assassin's Creed game. We can't wait to tell you more on September 10 at Ubisoft Forward at 12:00 PM PT.

Mario + Rabbids: From Kingdom Battle to Sparks of Hope

This week, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle celebrated its fifth anniversary, announcing the game has been played by over 10 million people ahead of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope's October 20 launch. Ubisoft News spoke with Creative Director Davide Soliani, Lead Producer Xavier Manzanares, and Associate Producer Cristina Nava to learn more about the journey from Kingdom Battle to Sparks of Hope.

Rocksmith+ Launching on PC September 6 with Over 5,000 Songs and More to Come

Rocksmith+, the new subscription service that teaches you how to play electric, acoustic, or bass guitar, is launching on September 6 for PC. Available exclusively through the Ubisoft Store, Rocksmith+ will have over 5,000 songs at launch across multiple genres. Rocksmith+ offers 1-month, 3-month, and 12-month subscriptions, with a special deal for those who have played Rocksmith before or taken part in the Rocksmith+ PC Closed Beta.

4 Ubisoft+ Games to Get Ready to Go Back to School

As summer winds down, Ubisoft+ is here to help get players ready to go back to school. Whether it's diving into history with Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour, learning resource management and city planning with Anno 1800, or immersing yourself in World War I with Valiant Hearts, these Ubisoft+ games have a lot to teach you.

Decommissioning Some Online Services: An Update

Last month, Ubisoft posted an article about decommissioning the online services of some of Ubisoft's older games. Decommissioning online services for older games is something we don't take lightly, but it's also a necessity as the technology that drove those services becomes obsolete. We want our players to enjoy optimal gameplay experiences without things breaking; at the same time, we want to make this process as seamless as possible for our players. Over the last month, our teams have been hard at work exploring what is possible to reduce disruption, and as a result, we have moved the decommission date for several affected titles. For more details, read our full article.

For Honor: Battle of the Eclipse Returns

The throwback event Battle of the Eclipse is running until September 8, bringing original rewards including an Effect, Battle Outfit, Ornament, and weapon set to Heathmoor. A 4v4 game mode, Eclipse tasks players with taking possession of an enemy forge and defeating the enemy's Commander - Astrea or Gryphon - who will spawn to protect it.

Ubisoft+ Spotlight - Assassin's Creed II

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

Brittany Spurlin, Writer/Editor: The Italian Renaissance. A tale of revenge. An age-old organization fighting for peace. These are just some of the beloved elements of Assassin's Creed II, the second installment of the Assassin's Creed franchise.

Ezio Auditore da Firenze leaps into the story not with a whisper, but with a bang. A reckless young aristocrat, Ezio lives a life of street brawls and racing across the rooftops with his brother Federico - that is until Federico, his other brother Petruccio, and their father Giovanni are framed for treason and hanged in the town square. This sets Ezio on a mission of vengeance in which he allies himself with the Order of Assassins and trains to become one of their own.

Assassin's Creed II features a multitude of gameplay updates, introducing the ability to swim, not to mention a full-fledged economic system - Ezio is able to pick the pockets of unsuspecting passerby, and can earn passive income through city upgrades and renovations. Stealth is a key part of gameplay, and players now have the ability to fight bare-handed to disarm or nonlethally take down opponents, a major boon for any Assassin-in-training who doesn't want to draw too much attention to himself. And Leonardo da Vinci is a key ally who creates a host of new weapons and gadgets for Ezio.

Desmond's storyline in the modern-day parts of Assassin's Creed II is also crucial to Assassin's Creed lore, as he runs from Abstergo Industries and attempts to decipher glyphs hidden in the Animus simulation. You can experience the start of Ezio's trilogy today with a Ubisoft+ subscription.

Game Updates

Rainbow Six Siege ended its grace period for reverse friendly fire penalties on August 31. If players who have already received a warning about friendly fire offenses continue to commit friendly fire, they will be sanctioned with RFF Reputation Penalty. This means they will have RFF automatically enabled for their next 30 matches.

Roller Champions deployed a hotfix on August 31 to all Xbox and PlayStation consoles to address issues with crossplay invites.

The Division 2 Season 10 Phase 2 update went live September 2, introducing new gear, rebalancing existing content, and bringing general gameplay improvements to the game.

• Brazos de Arcabuz and Umbra Initiative gear sets available
• Striker's Battlegear changed damage modifier from multiplicative to additive
• Added an option to sell from Stash at each vendor where players can sell items

Brawlhalla launched patch notes 6.10 on August 31, bringing new background options as well as gameplay updates and bug fixes.

• New available background options, including default, simple, and blurred backgrounds
• Color exclusion list expanded, helping players differentiate their own Legend color from background or opponents
• Ranked window now displays player ranking among the top 1000 in their region