Game · in order
Assassin's Creed Games in Order
The 14 mainline Assassin's Creed games, ordered two ways: by release date (which tells the modern-day metastory as intended) and by their historical settings, from 431 BCE Greece to 16th-century Japan.
Assassin's Creed Games in Order — complete list
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Why this order?
Release order is the way to play Assassin's Creed if you care about the overarching story. Beneath every historical adventure runs a modern-day "Animus" frame — Desmond Miles' arc across the first five console games, then the Layla Hassan and Helix-research threads that follow. Those present-day beats only make sense in the order Ubisoft shipped them, because each game assumes you saw the last one's cliffhanger. Play release order and the Isu/First Civilization mythology, the Templar–Assassin war, and the recurring Animus characters unfold as designed.
Chronological-by-setting order is the tempting alternative: start in Periklean Greece with Odyssey (431 BCE), watch the Hidden Ones form in Ptolemaic Egypt (Origins, 49 BCE), then march forward through Baghdad, Viking England, the Crusades, the Renaissance, Sengoku Japan, the Golden Age of Piracy, the American and French Revolutions, and Victorian London. It's a genuinely satisfying tour of history — but it scrambles the meta-narrative. You'd meet modern-day plot resolutions before their setups, and the older Ezio and Kenway games look and play very differently from the newer RPGs you'd reach first.
A wrinkle worth flagging: the "historical" year is the playable past, but each game is framed by a present-day story that is itself sequential. So a strict timeline by setting actively conflicts with the modern frame. Two settings also overlap closely — Rogue begins in 1752 and AC III in 1754, and they're narrative companions across the Seven Years' War and American Revolution, so we place Rogue just ahead of III.
Bottom line: first-timers should play release order; the chronological list is best as a history-buff's re-play once you already understand who Desmond, Layla, and the Isu are.
Timeline 2007–2025
Every release plotted by year — taller stacks mean more that year. Hover a marker for the title.
Where to play it today
- PlayStation Store (PS5/PS4)
- Xbox Store (Series X/S, Xbox One)
- Steam, Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store on PC
- Ubisoft Connect / Ubisoft+ subscription (most back catalog)
- Nintendo eShop (Switch 2) for Shadows
- Physical discs for PS5/PS4 and Xbox via retailers
Affiliate links (Bookshop.org for books, store links for games/films) slot in here.
Frequently asked questions
How many Assassin's Creed games are there?
There are 14 mainline Assassin's Creed games, from the original (2007) through Assassin's Creed Shadows (2025). Counting spin-offs, mobile titles, and Chronicles entries pushes the total higher, but the 14 listed here are the core console releases most people mean.
What is the correct order to play Assassin's Creed?
For story, play in release order — the modern-day Animus frame (Desmond, then Layla) is sequential and assumes you've seen the previous game's cliffhanger. Chronological-by-setting order is a fun history tour but scrambles that meta-narrative.
Which Assassin's Creed game has the earliest historical setting?
Assassin's Creed Odyssey, set in 431 BCE during the Peloponnesian War in ancient Greece. Origins (49 BCE Egypt) is second, even though Origins released first.
Do I need to play the games in chronological order to understand the story?
No — in fact, chronological-by-setting order can be confusing because the present-day storyline runs in release order. Release order keeps both the historical and modern-day threads coherent.
What is the newest Assassin's Creed game?
Assassin's Creed Shadows, released March 20, 2025, set in 1579 Sengoku-era Japan with dual protagonists Naoe and Yasuke. A Nintendo Switch 2 version followed in December 2025.
Last verified · Sources: en.wikipedia.org, gamespot.com, thegamer.com, digitaltrends.com, ubisoft.com
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