As it's become such a powerhouse franchise over the last six years, a sequel to Assassin's Creed 3, direct or not, is a virtual guarantee. But it's yet to be determined if a game with the moniker of Black Flags is that sequel, or the next DLC.
Two posters on Reddit brought the ideas to light.
The first, photoacoustic, claims he was on a flight when he supposedly spied an Ubisoft employee "working on a powerpoint presentation on marketing strategies of several gaming titles. And one that stood out the most was AC4: Black Flags, aimed for release 2013 Holiday season according to her slide. It already had a cool looking logo for it. Unfortunately I didn't take any photo, just wanted to share it with all the AC fans, and give those who are trying to figure out the next story line a little hint."
While this does seem like a pretty short time to throw together the next AC title, another redditor is saying that Black Flags is something quite different.
KingCharlesMarlow "happened to overhear two advertising designers discussing a new piece of ACIII DLC, titled Black Flag, that will focus more deeply on naval combat. According to them, the tagline stands as 'Survival is the Only Thing Worth Dying For,' and the commercial being pitched involves an Admiral of the British Royal Navy attempting to arrest Connor Kenway on the high seas, whilst a Johnny Cash song sets the tone. The DLC is apparently nearly six months out and still in early development, but seems to be a definite project that Ubisoft is working on."
True or not, I find the second a little bit easier to swallow. Connor's adventures never really developed the boy's sea legs, and despite being the newest, and more innovative aspect of the franchise, it wasn't explored nearly enough, relegated to optional side missions.
The first DLC episode, The Tyranny of King Washington, is out next week, Feb. 19 for PC and Xbox 360, and the following day, Feb. 20, for PlayStation 3.
