Some leaks feel like gossip. This one feels more like finding a letter addressed to a future that never arrived. On Oct. 15, MP1st reported that Ubisoft and Tencent's TiMi Studio Group had been building an Assassin's Creed game called Destiny, set in ancient China, and that it was cancelled long before anyone outside the project heard its name. Plenty of fans have been hoping the series would go to China for years. What surfaced is a glimpse of what a very first draft of that wish looked like.
I want to be careful, because this is a leak and not an announcement. Everything below is either something MP1st reported, something other outlets say they read in that report, or something I label as my own opinion. I haven't watched the clips myself, so I'm working from the descriptions. The case file and the rumor check are the parts to trust most. The pitch sheet near the end is where I stop reporting and start daydreaming.
What leaked, and how we know
MP1st says it found the screenshots and clips in the portfolios of developers who worked on the project, and that most of the material comes from a prototype dated February 2025. It isn't a trailer and it isn't a build anyone played through. Portfolios are where artists and animators show their best moments, so my read is that we're seeing a curated slice, not a fair sample.
The project was reportedly led by TiMi Studio Group, the Tencent subsidiary that also works on Assassin's Creed Jade, and it was aimed at current platforms. Niche Gamer notes that VGC describes it as meant for consoles and PC. Here's the part I'd underline: a lot of today's coverage is outlets repeating MP1st. That makes this one report, widely echoed, and not many sources agreeing with each other.
What the footage reportedly shows
Here's the list, sorted by how solid each detail is. The tags are mine.
- ShownA palace infiltration mission
A female assassin has to reach a mysterious artifact inside a sacred palace that the warlord Xiang Yu and his troops are besieging, according to MP1st.
- Shown, earlyXiang Yu as a boss fight
The report describes early work on a boss encounter with him. His imposing halberd gets a close-up in the published material.
- ShownThe series' signatures
Stealth takedowns and a leap of faith. If you'd been asked to bet on what would be in there, those are the two safest bets.
- Shown, placeholderAn umbrella-like spinning weapon
It appears in a placeholder test environment, alongside ink-brush-style ability icons, a health bar and an ornate bar with a yin-yang emblem.
- UnclearA male character doing parkour takedowns
MP1st says it might point to a selectable character gender, unless it was just a placeholder. Wccftech guesses a dual-protagonist setup like Shadows instead. Nobody outside the project knows.
Now the caveat that matters. A February 2025 prototype can't tell you if the story worked, how big the map was or whether the combat was fun. One outlet notes the animations were incomplete, which is exactly what you'd expect. What the clips can show is intent, and the intent I notice is the small stuff. Ink-brush icons and a yin-yang bar read to me like a team trying to give China its own visual identity instead of reskinning the last game. That's my interpretation of descriptions, not a fact.
The rumor check
Within hours of a leak like this, a pile of half-truths starts circulating. Here are the ones I've seen repeated, stamped.
“Ubisoft confirmed Assassin's Creed Destiny.”
UnconfirmedThe report is MP1st's. I found no statement from Ubisoft or Tencent in the coverage I read, and Last Word on Gaming says neither has explained the cancellation.
“Destiny is just Assassin's Creed Jade with a new name.”
Not what's reportedReports describe two separate projects. Jade is a mobile game set in 215 BCE that Ubisoft said in March 2026 is still in development. Destiny was reportedly meant for consoles and PC and set in 206 BCE, nine years later.
“It was cancelled because the footage looked bad.”
Not supportedNobody has said why. MP1st reports it was scrapped early, not long after TiMi's restructuring. A prototype that looks rough tells you nothing about a decision made in a boardroom.
“Ubisoft's 'pivot away from an early project' was Destiny.”
UnconfirmedIn its Into 2026 franchise update, Ubisoft said it had pivoted away from an early project without naming it. Last Word on Gaming points out there's no evidence it was Destiny.
“The game is set in 205 BCE.”
Minor mismatchA couple of outlets give 205 BCE. MP1st, the original report, says 206 BCE, and that's the number I'm using.
“It's coming back.”
No evidenceNothing in the reporting says Destiny will be revived. The China project Ubisoft has talked about on the record is Jade.
Who was Xiang Yu, and why is he in an Assassin's Creed game?
If the name is new to you, you're in good company outside China. Inside it, he's one of the best-known figures of his era. Xiang Yu was a noble from the state of Chu who helped topple the Qin dynasty, then lost a power struggle to a rival named Liu Bang, who went on to found the Han dynasty. That struggle is called the Chu-Han Contention, and it ran from 206 to 202 BCE.
See where this is going? A game set in 206 BCE drops you at the exact moment the old order has collapsed and nobody knows who'll replace it. Here's the stretch of history around it.
- 221BCE
The state of Qin conquers its rivals and unifies China, and its king takes the title First Emperor.
- 210BCE
The First Emperor dies, and Qin's grip on the country starts to loosen.
- 207–6BCE
Qin's last ruler, Ziying, surrenders the capital, Xianyang, to Liu Bang, ending the dynasty. Sources split between 207 and 206 BCE for the end date.
- 206BCE
At the Feast at Hong Gate, Xiang Yu has a chance to eliminate Liu Bang and lets him leave instead.
- 206BCE
Xiang Yu names himself Hegemon-King of Western Chu, splits the former empire among rebel leaders in what's known as the Eighteen Kingdoms, and makes Liu Bang King of Han. This is the year Destiny is reportedly set.
- 206–202BCE
The Chu-Han Contention: Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, with shifting allies, fight for control.
- 202BCE
Liu Bang wins at Gaixia. Xiang Yu takes his own life, and Liu Bang becomes the first Han emperor. The dynasty lasts until 220 CE.
One last detail, because it's too good to skip. At Gaixia, the story goes that Han troops sang songs from Chu at night so Xiang Yu's soldiers would think their homeland had already fallen. A Chinese idiom, sìmiàn chǔgē, literally “Chu songs on all sides,” comes from that scene and is still used for being cornered with no way out.
Here's why this matters for a game about assassins. The most famous scene of the period is a banquet where a rival could have been killed and wasn't. This series is built on the idea that one quiet decision can change history. I can't think of a better stage. To be clear, the leak doesn't say Destiny used that banquet. That's me imagining.
Three Chinas, one franchise
It's easy to blur these together, so here's how I keep them straight.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China
Released · 2015
- Type
- 2.5D side-scrolling spin-off, a modest one in MP1st's words
- Setting
- Ming-dynasty China, 1526
- Status
- Shipped
Assassin's Creed Jade
In development · no date
- Type
- Mobile game with Level Infinite, Tencent's publishing arm
- Setting
- Qin period, 215 BCE
- Status
- Announced in 2022, beta-tested, then quiet. Ubisoft said in March 2026 it's still in development
Assassin's Creed Destiny
Reportedly cancelled
- Type
- Console and PC project from TiMi
- Setting
- Qin period, 206 BCE
- Status
- Never announced, and not confirmed by Ubisoft
What I take from that lineup: Destiny sits nine years after Jade, so they weren't one game wearing two names. They were two separate bets on the same stretch of history. One survived, in a smaller form, and the bigger one didn't.
The paper trail: how a game like this goes quiet
Here's what's on the record, in order. Think of it as the weather around the project, not the cause of anything.
- March 2024
Reuters reports that Tencent is moving away from Western franchises, which carry lower profit margins than its domestic releases, and shifting developers toward casual party games (as summarized by MP1st).
- 2024 to 2026
Athena, a Greek-mythology action game, is reportedly in development at TiMi before it too is cancelled.
- Date not given
Hundreds of Jade developers are reportedly moved to the party game DreamStar.
- Jan. 2025
TiMi announces a restructuring that splits the studio into four teams, a month before the Destiny prototype, per MP1st.
- Feb. 2025
The prototype date for most of the leaked material.
- Soon after
Destiny is cancelled, per MP1st. No date is given.
- Feb. 2026
Tencent closes TiMi Montreal, a studio founded in 2021 that never announced a game.
- March 2026
Ubisoft says Jade is still in development, one of several projects at different stages.
- Oct. 15, 2026
MP1st publishes the Destiny report.
I want to be careful with the “why.” Nobody has said on the record why Destiny ended. A restructuring, a strategic retreat from Western franchises and a studio closure a year later would let you build a convincing story, and that's exactly why I don't want to. A convincing story and a confirmed one are different things.
My pitch sheet: keep, change, ask
This is the opinion section. If I got ten minutes with the team that made Destiny, this is what I'd bring. These are my asks and none of it comes from the reporting.
Keep
- The 206 BCE window. An empire has just collapsed and rival warlords are carving it up. That's a built-in ticking clock, a built-in cast and a built-in reason for everyone to be lying to each other.
- The ink-brush look. If the descriptions are right, the team was trying to give the game its own visual language. I'd fight for that to survive.
- A woman at the center of the palace mission. Reporters describe a female assassin leading it. I'd keep her front and center.
Change
- Don't let the umbrella be the whole identity. A spinning umbrella is a great screenshot and a risky foundation. I'd want it to be one tool in a kit, not the hook.
- Don't waste Xiang Yu on a health bar. His story ends in defeat at Gaixia. A tragic warlord deserves to be a character before he's a boss.
Ask
- Where's the secret layer? The series leans on hidden hands behind history. In a period that's already full of betrayals, what would the conspiracy add?
- How loyal to the record? Historical fiction is allowed to bend, but this era has a huge audience that knows its set pieces. I'd want to know which ones are untouchable.
I can't tell you Destiny should have shipped, because a prototype isn't a game. I can tell you the setting deserves a serious console-and-PC treatment, and that this much interest in a few placeholder clips says something about how many people want it. It's a loss, but it points at something: Assassin's Creed in China is an idea with an audience, and Jade is still alive.
If this made you curious
- Chronicles: China is the one China-set Assassin's Creed that has actually shipped. It's a side-scroller from 2015, so it's a different experience from what Destiny would have been. Check your platform's store for availability.
- Jade is the one to keep an eye on. Ubisoft says it's in development, and the reporting I read gives no release date.
- For the history itself, the World History Encyclopedia page on the Battle of Gaixia and the History of War profile of Xiang Yu are good starting points, and both are in the sources below.
Quick answers
What is Assassin's Creed Destiny?
It's a reportedly cancelled Assassin's Creed game set in ancient China. MP1st reported on Oct. 15, 2026 that it was led by TiMi Studio Group, the Tencent subsidiary that also works on Assassin's Creed Jade, and that it was set in 206 BCE during the Qin Dynasty. Ubisoft has not confirmed it in anything I found.
Is Assassin's Creed Destiny real?
The footage and screenshots are reported to come from the portfolios of developers who worked on the project, and most of it from a February 2025 prototype. The report comes from one outlet, MP1st, and has been widely repeated. I didn't find a statement from Ubisoft or Tencent confirming or denying it.
When is Assassin's Creed Destiny set?
206 BCE, according to MP1st, a few years after the setting of Assassin's Creed Jade (215 BCE). That's the year after the Qin dynasty collapsed, when the warlord Xiang Yu and his rival Liu Bang began the Chu-Han Contention. A few outlets give a slightly different year, but the original report says 206 BCE.
Why was Assassin's Creed Destiny cancelled?
Nobody has said on the record. MP1st reports that TiMi announced a restructuring a month before the February 2025 prototype and that Destiny was cancelled not long after, and it notes Tencent's wider move away from Western franchises. That's context, not a confirmed cause.
Is Assassin's Creed Destiny the same game as Assassin's Creed Jade?
No. Reports describe them as separate projects. Jade is a mobile game set in 215 BCE, and Ubisoft said in March 2026 that it's still in development. Destiny was reportedly meant for current consoles and PC and set in 206 BCE.
Is there an Assassin's Creed game set in China?
One has shipped: Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China, a 2.5D side-scrolling spin-off from 2015. Assassin's Creed Jade, a mobile game set in the Qin period, is in development with no release date. Destiny, the console-and-PC project, was reportedly cancelled.
Who is Xiang Yu in Assassin's Creed Destiny?
Xiang Yu was a real Chu noble and warlord who helped bring down the Qin dynasty and later lost a power struggle to Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty. The leaked footage reportedly shows a mission in a palace besieged by his army and the early start of a boss fight against him.
