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The mainline Assassin’s Creed games run historically from Odyssey in Ancient Greece to Syndicate in Victorian London. That is not the best order for every player: chronological order follows the eras inside the Animus, while release order better preserves the modern-day story and the series’ evolution. The timeline below covers the 14 mainline historical entries; spin-offs, expansions, and remakes are explained separately.
What is the Assassin’s Creed timeline in order?
In historical order, start with Odyssey, then move through Origins, Mirage, Valhalla, and the Crusades-era original before following Ezio’s Renaissance trilogy. Shadows comes after that trilogy and before the Atlantic-era games. The table gives the mainline sequence by the period represented in each game, not by the year Ubisoft released it.
| Historical order | Game | Setting and period | Story anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | Ancient Greece, 431–422 BCE | Alexios or Kassandra; the Cult of Kosmos |
| 2 | Assassin’s Creed Origins | Ptolemaic Egypt, commonly dated 49–44 BCE | Bayek and Aya; the Hidden Ones |
| 3 | Assassin’s Creed Mirage | Baghdad, 861–870 CE | Basim’s path to becoming a Hidden One |
| 4 | Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | Norway and England, 872–878 CE | Eivor and Basim |
| 5 | Assassin’s Creed | Holy Land, 1191 | Altaïr during the Third Crusade |
| 6 | Assassin’s Creed II | Renaissance Italy, 1476–1499 | Ezio Auditore |
| 7 | Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood | Rome and Italy, 1499–1507 | Ezio continues his story |
| 8 | Assassin’s Creed Revelations | Constantinople, 1511–1512 | Ezio and Altaïr’s legacy |
| 9 | Assassin’s Creed Shadows | Sixteenth-century Japan; a chronology guide lists 1579 | Late Sengoku period; Naoe and Yasuke |
| 10 | Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag | Caribbean, 1715–1722 | Edward Kenway during the Golden Age of Piracy |
| 11 | Assassin’s Creed Rogue | North Atlantic and North American River Valley, roughly 1752–1760 | Shay Cormac’s change of allegiance |
| 12 | Assassin’s Creed III | Colonial America, 1754–1783 | Connor during the American Revolution |
| 13 | Assassin’s Creed Unity | France, 1789–1794 | Arno during the French Revolution |
| 14 | Assassin’s Creed Syndicate | London, 1868 | Jacob and Evie Frye in the Victorian era |
These dates describe the historical memories at the center of each game. The series also has a modern-day frame story, so a game’s historical setting is not the same thing as the full chronology of everything happening in its narrative.
Should I play Assassin’s Creed in release order or chronological order?
For a first playthrough, release order is usually the clearer choice; choose historical order if your main goal is to follow the eras represented in the Animus. The two sequences answer different questions, and neither makes the other invalid.
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Why release order works for a first playthrough
The games’ present-day story unfolds across releases, starting with Desmond Miles and Altaïr and continuing through later protagonists and eras. Playing in release order preserves the way that metanarrative was introduced and developed, rather than making its revelations jump around with historical dates. It also lets you experience the changing design in context, from stealth and parkour to naval systems and the later open-world RPG approach.
Release order matters in particular for Basim: Valhalla released before Mirage and introduces him to players in its broader story. Mirage is earlier in the fictional history and depicts his earlier life. Playing it first gives you that backstory before the introduction the series originally presented.
When historical order is the better fit
Choose historical order if you want a fictional tour through the eras, or if the present-day plot is not your priority. It makes transitions between historical periods intuitive, but can make the modern-day narrative feel out of sequence. You can also use the table as a flexible guide: follow one character’s arc in sequence, then return to the broader historical timeline.
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Is Odyssey before Origins?
Yes. Odyssey is the earliest mainline historical setting, but Origins is the game that depicts the beginning of the Assassin tradition that develops into the Brotherhood.
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What Odyssey represents
Odyssey takes place in Greece in 431–422 BCE, before the later Assassin and Templar institutions exist in the form familiar from the franchise. Its ancient-world conflict includes the Cult of Kosmos. Its first-place position is about historical date, not the founding of the Brotherhood.
What Origins represents
Origins follows Bayek and Aya in Ptolemaic Egypt, commonly placed around 49–44 BCE in timeline guides. It depicts the formation of the Hidden Ones, predecessors to the Assassin Brotherhood, alongside the Order of the Ancients, a precursor to the later Templar enemy. The useful distinction is simple: Odyssey comes first in time; Origins explains how the Assassin lineage begins.
How do Mirage and Valhalla fit together?
Mirage precedes Valhalla in the historical timeline: it is set in Baghdad in 861–870 CE, before Valhalla’s 872–878 CE settings in Norway and England. Their close dates do not mean they tell the same kind of story.
Mirage follows Basim’s transformation from street thief to Hidden One. Valhalla centers on Eivor in the Viking expansion period and places Basim within the wider narrative. That creates a useful choice for returning players: play Valhalla first to meet Basim as the series originally introduced him, or play Mirage first to follow his life chronologically.
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Why do the Renaissance games form a continuous block?
The original Assassin’s Creed takes place in 1191 during the Third Crusade, with Altaïr in the Holy Land. Assassin’s Creed II then jumps forward to Ezio’s story in Renaissance Italy, followed by Brotherhood and Revelations. This is a rare stretch where historical order and the central character arc move in the same direction.
From Altaïr to Ezio
The original game also introduces Desmond Miles, who experiences historical memories through the Animus. That framing helps explain why a game set centuries earlier can connect to a contemporary storyline. Assassin’s Creed II shifts the historical focus to Ezio, whose story begins in 1476.
Ezio’s sequence
Brotherhood continues Ezio’s story in Rome from 1499 to 1507. Revelations follows him to Constantinople in 1511–1512 and reconnects his journey with Altaïr’s legacy. Play these three in that order to keep Ezio’s character development intact; their release and historical sequences align broadly.
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Assassin’s Creed Shadows falls after Revelations and before Black Flag in historical order. It is set in sixteenth-century Japan during the late Sengoku period; one chronology guide gives 1579 as its date, so that year is best treated as a guide’s placement rather than a complete date range.
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The gap between the settings is substantial: after Japan, the mainline chronology moves to the Caribbean and the Golden Age of Piracy in the early eighteenth century. Shadows’ position can be easy to miss if you follow publication history instead, since it was released much later than the games set around the Renaissance and piracy.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does Black Flag happen before Assassin’s Creed III?
Yes. Black Flag is earlier historically, even though it was released after Assassin’s Creed III. Its Caribbean story follows Edward Kenway from 1715 to 1722 and connects forward through the Kenway family; Rogue and III then take the timeline into the mid-to-late eighteenth century.
Black Flag, Rogue, and III
Rogue follows Shay Cormac’s turn from Assassin to Templar. Its dates, roughly 1752–1760, overlap with the span of Assassin’s Creed III, which covers Connor’s story from 1754 to 1783. Put Rogue before III for the standard historical sequence, but do not read that as a strict start-to-finish boundary: the stories overlap in time.
From the American Revolution to London
Unity moves to France during the French Revolution, from 1789 to 1794. Syndicate is the latest setting in this mainline timeline, taking the story to Victorian London in 1868. The chronology’s final position is not the same as being the newest release.
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Do spin-offs, expansions, and remakes belong in the timeline?
The table is deliberately limited to the 14 mainline historical entries. Other releases can fit around them, but combining every companion game, expansion, mobile title, and re-release in one undifferentiated list makes the main chronology harder to use.
- Companion stories: Liberation and Freedom Cry fit alongside mainline periods but are not numbered mainline installments.
- Chronicles trilogy: China, India, and Russia each have their own historical setting and can be listed separately when building a more complete franchise chronology.
- Expansions: label DLC separately because some extend a game’s period or use alternate-history material.
- Remakes and re-releases: place them beside the original game’s historical position rather than counting them as new eras. Black Flag Resynced is listed as a 2026 release and occupies the same historical position as the original Black Flag.
For an expanded list, add each companion release according to its own historical setting and label its category clearly. Do not infer that an expansion or remake creates a new chapter in the mainline timeline simply because it is a separate release.
Which Assassin’s Creed order should you choose?
Choose release order for the series’ intended present-day progression and changing gameplay, or historical order to trace the fictional eras from Ancient Greece onward. For most first-time players, release order is the more coherent narrative route; for a history-focused replay, the table provides the mainline chronological path. Neither approach changes what each game is about—only which context reaches you first.
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Do I need to play every Assassin’s Creed game to understand the series?
No. The mainline games have character-focused arcs as well as a larger present-day thread, so a player can follow a particular protagonist without completing every release. Skipping games may leave gaps in the broader modern-day continuity.
Is Assassin’s Creed based on real history?
The games place fictional characters and conflicts in recognizable historical settings, but they are historical fiction rather than documentary accounts. Treat dates and events in a game as part of its story, not as a substitute for a history source.
What does the Animus do in Assassin’s Creed?
Within the series’ framing, the Animus lets a present-day person experience memories associated with historical ancestors. It is the narrative device connecting otherwise distant settings to the modern-day plot.
Is Black Flag Resynced a new story in the timeline?
No: it is identified as a remake of Black Flag and occupies the original game’s historical position. Its release does not add a separate era to the mainline chronology.
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