AC Invictus Playtest Called 'Terrible,' Cancellation

"Really f***ing bad." That's how French Assassin's Creed insider j0nathan described the most recent playtest for Assassin's Creed Invictus, Ubisoft's standalone multiplayer spin-off that was first announced back in September 2022. In a May 2 post on X, j0nathan shared a screenshot of what appears to be an official email invite for an April 30 PC-only playtest, alongside a second-hand account calling the experience "absolutely terrible." The leaker went further, stating there's now a "good chance" the game will be delayed or even cancelled outright.

This isn't the first alarm bell. Back in January, j0nathan reported that a developer on the project had classified Invictus as "appalling," adding that the team "don't believe in it at all" and were "disgusted to be working on this garbage." If even half of that is accurate, this is a project in serious trouble, not just behind schedule but potentially lacking any internal conviction that it should exist.

Ubisoft, for its part, has pushed back on the negativity. In a March blog post tied to a broader franchise update, the company acknowledged curiosity around Invictus but insisted the project "isn't quite what the rumors have suggested." The post described the team as "incredibly passionate" and said Ubisoft was "exploring ways to bring the community in earlier" to help shape the experience. That language is doing a lot of heavy lifting when stacked against repeated insider reports painting a very different picture.

What Is Invictus, Exactly?

Details remain thin even after nearly four years of development. Invictus is being built by a team drawn from For Honor at Ubisoft Montreal, and the leaked playtest email describes it as an "all-new multiplayer PvP experience" set in the Assassin's Creed universe. Multiple leakers, including j0nathan, have previously compared it to something resembling Fall Guys; a chaotic, party-style multiplayer format. Trying to graft that tone onto Assassin's Creed is a wild swing, and based on everything we've heard so far, it doesn't sound like it's connecting.

Invictus was reportedly targeting a 2025 release before slipping to 2026, and j0nathan's latest report suggests even that window is now in doubt. Whether his assessment of potential cancellation comes from inside knowledge or personal inference isn't entirely clear, but the pattern of negative reports stretching back months makes it hard to dismiss.

I struggle to see who this game is for. Assassin's Creed fans have been vocal for years about wanting a return to the series' roots, and Ubisoft seems to be listening on that front with Black Flag Resynced, which has already hit one million wishlists across all platforms in its first week. A Fall Guys-style spin-off feels like it was conceived in a boardroom chasing a trend that peaked years ago, and the playtest feedback suggests the execution isn't saving the concept.

With Black Flag Resynced launching July 9 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, Ubisoft has a crowd-pleaser on its hands. Invictus, by contrast, reads like a project that might quietly disappear from the roadmap before anyone outside Ubisoft Montreal ever plays it. If the next round of internal testing goes as badly as the last two reportedly have, Ubisoft would be better off redirecting those resources somewhere the team actually believes in the work.