Assassin's Creed's Gaming Console Farewells

When the year 2014 came around, the developers at Ubisoft had a decision to make as to which platforms to launch their upcoming games, both the heavily anticipated Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed Rogue. The entirety of the gaming world was set to move on from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles now that the newest models, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were out. Ubisoft was not alone in developers being quick to end support for the older consoles in favor of the new ones. The previous Assassin’s Creed game, was the first in the series to feature on the newest consoles of their time, however, the game launched first on previous generation systems and in the end was simultaneously released on both. Many gamers had not yet made the move to the PS4 and Xbox One consoles, even a year after launch in 2014, so it was a bold, yet smart decision for Ubisoft to release their flagship new Assassin’s Creed title as a next-generation exclusive as Assassin’s Creed Unity became the first game in the series to skip the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles, doing this was a difficult move for gamers yet to have upgraded, but Ubisoft thought of the players still behind and launched Assassin’s Creed Rogue simultaneously with Unity,  with Rogue being previous-generation only and Unity being next-generation only. It was a move that satisfied fans who either made the upgrade or still had yet to get to the new consoles.

Many gaming developers were swiftly disbanding the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles, sometimes not even a year post launch of the new consoles. So this move from Ubisoft was expected as their new flagship game, Assassin’s Creed Unity, was clearly a game built alongside and with the advanced power of the next generation consoles, something that could simply not be achieved with the old hardware found in the PS3 and Xbox 360. It was a game built for the newest consoles, and Ubisoft used that to their advantage to develop a game that utilizes all the new advanced technical specifications that the newest consoles brought to the market. By doing this, Ubisoft was very courteous to players who had not made the jump to the PS4 and Xbox One just yet and created the game Assassin’s Creed Rogue alongside Unity to satisfy fans who initially felt left out seeing Unity be skipping the older consoles but were treated fairly by developers and truly ended the PS3 and Xbox 360 era on a high note. After all, the birth of the Assassin’s Creed franchise started on these consoles, so it only felt right to have a proper send off for such a monumental era of gaming.

Years later, as we witnessed the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles in November 2020, it became evident that developers were more reluctant this time around to skip past the previous generation consoles, now being the PS4 and Xbox One. The support for the past generation systems is unlike what we saw with the send off for the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation. Even today, the older consoles are being supported by some major game franchises such as Call of Duty or sports games like NBA2K. It is uncharted territory for gamers of this more modern era who were so used to seeing the past generation consoles be abandoned quite fast, and it goes to show you that Ubisoft made the right call moving on from the older consoles in 2014 all while ending on a strong note for the PS3 and Xbox 360 systems. This cycle was a close relation to what Ubisoft has done in the latest generation by sending off the PS4 and Xbox One consoles on a strong note with the 2023 game Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which launched simultaneously with older and newest consoles. However, new-generation only consoles got the hyped-up and heavily anticipated Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which launched in March of 2025 exclusively to next generation platforms. Yet another example of Ubisoft making the jump at the correct time, as a game like Shadows could have not been possible from a technological standpoint, just as Assassin’s Creed Unity was to the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles all the way back in 2014.

It is clear Ubisoft has monitored the technology available to them and their development cycle, and has known exactly when to make the change when it became a true necessity. These past generations have shown us all that when a generation comes to an end, it deserves a proper send off, as those consoles were relevant for six to seven full years in a row at the very minimum. Ubisoft has nailed their approach twice on moving onto the advanced technology of the new consoles at the right time but also not forgetting about an incredible era of gaming along with courtesy for the players who weren’t yet in a position to move on to the newest systems. Their strategies have paid dividends and have always ended a generation of the Assassin’s Creed franchise on a proper and satisfying note.