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Assassin's Creed Nexus VR

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Assassin's Creed Nexus VR
Information
VR/AR Virtual Reality
Developer Red Storm Entertainment
Publisher Ubisoft
Platform Meta Quest
Device Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro
Type Game
Genre Action-adventure, Stealth
Input Device Tracked motion controllers
Play Area Seated, Standing, Room-scale
Game Mode Single-player
Release Date November 16, 2023
Price US $39.99
App Store Meta Horizon Store
Website https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/assassins-creed/nexus-vr
See also: VR Apps and VR Games

Assassin's Creed Nexus VR is a single-player, first-person action-adventure and stealth virtual reality game developed by Red Storm Entertainment (Ubisoft Red Storm) and published by Ubisoft. Ubisoft describes it as "a new story built only for VR".[1] It was released on November 16, 2023 for the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest Pro headsets.[2][3] It is sold on the Meta Horizon Store for US$39.99.[4]

The player relives the memories of three assassins from earlier games in the series: Ezio Auditore in Renaissance Venice, Kassandra in ancient Greece, and Connor in colonial America. Parkour, climbing, stealth and melee combat are driven by the player's own arm and hand movements on tracked controllers, and the Hidden Blade is drawn with a flick of the wrist.[2][5]

Ubisoft announced an untitled Assassin's Creed VR project in September 2020, revealed the Nexus VR name in June 2023, and shipped the game that November.[6][7] Reviews were generally favorable: the game holds a 78 on Metacritic, was a finalist in two categories at the 27th D.I.C.E. Awards, and won Best AR/VR Game at the 16th Unity Awards.[8][9][10] Commercially it fell short of Ubisoft's expectations. In February 2024 chief executive Yves Guillemot said the company was "a bit disappointed" with the result and would not increase its VR investment, and in March 2026 Ubisoft ended game development at Red Storm, the studio's last shipped title being Nexus VR.[11][12]

Reviewed 20 September 2026. Release date, platforms, price, credited studios, executive quotes, comfort features, review scores, awards, the February 2024 Guillemot remarks and the March 2026 Red Storm closure, each checked against its cited source. About review dates.

Gameplay

Assassin's Creed Nexus VR is played entirely in first person. Its core systems are the same ones the flatscreen series is built around: climbing and parkour across open maps, stealth with crowd blending, hiding spots and silent Hidden Blade kills, and melee combat with blocking, parrying and counterattacks.[5][13] Climbing is physical: the player reaches for ledges and pulls up with the controllers, with an assisted-climbing option for players who want less arm work, and the series' Leap of Faith dive from tall structures is included.[2] Each assassin has a distinct kit. Ubisoft lists Ezio's crossbow, Connor's bow and a special bow for Kassandra alongside shared tools such as swords, throwing knives, smoke bombs and the Hidden Blade.[5][14] Stealth also includes pickpocketing, and the maps are populated with civilians and historical figures who react to the player's actions.[13][14]

The game was designed with a large set of comfort settings. Ubisoft describes room-scale, standing, seated and stationary play modes; movement by smooth locomotion or teleportation, where the teleport target warns the player if the move would draw enemy attention; dynamic vignetting for motion sensitivity; and a "grounding grid" overlay to reduce fear of heights.[5][15] UploadVR reported that the game first asks about the player's VR experience and assigns one of four preset comfort categories, which can then be customized, with options that extend to snap or smooth turning, adjustable hand stabilization, parkour assistance, a virtual nose as a frame of reference and customizable subtitles.[16][3] Road to VR found the teleport mode too slow to be practical for a full playthrough but reported that the parkour stayed comfortable over sessions of more than an hour.[3]

Campaign length varies by reviewer: Road to VR estimated about 15 hours for the main story, UploadVR reported roughly 20 hours, and MIXED reported more than 15 hours.[3][16][17] The Meta Horizon Store lists the game as 18+ for extreme violence.[4]

Story

The frame story takes place in the present day. The player is an undercover hacker inside Abstergo working under its cybersecurity chief, Dominika Wilk, played by Morena Baccarin, and must stop a plan to manipulate human beliefs using ancient technology. To do so the player enters newly discovered memories of three assassins.[15] Ezio Auditore's chapters are set in Venice in 1509, Connor's in colonial America in 1776-1777, and Kassandra's in Athens about twenty years after the events of Assassin's Creed Odyssey.[5] Ubisoft's launch material also names Renaissance Italy, ancient Greece and colonial America as the three settings, and Road to VR lists Venice, Athens and colonial Boston among the open maps.[2][14]

Road to VR's review argued that splitting the campaign across three protagonists reduced attachment to any one character, while MIXED described the modern-day story's mixed reality sequences, which place the player in their own room in front of a virtual communication panel, and UploadVR noted that these sequences are infrequent and mostly involve placing digital "cores" on a grid to match a pattern.[3][17][16]

Development

Ubisoft announced the project on September 16, 2020 at the Connect virtual event (Facebook Connect, the renamed Oculus Connect), alongside a Splinter Cell VR game, describing both as "new chapters" of their series that would launch exclusively on Oculus VR. Red Storm Entertainment led development with support from Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Mumbai and Ubisoft Reflections. Elizabeth Loverso, then Red Storm's vice president of product development, said Oculus hardware would let the studio "bring the worlds of Assassin's Creed and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell to life for fans in a new way."[6] In April 2022 Road to VR reported on a leaked prototype video that gave the game's name as "Nexus" and showed a mission-select menu, while noting it could not verify the leak independently.[18]

The title Assassin's Creed Nexus VR was confirmed on June 1, 2023, the day of the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase; the game itself did not appear in the showcase, and Ubisoft said the full reveal would come at Ubisoft Forward on June 12.[7] At Ubisoft Forward, creative director David Votypka described the goal as "a proper Assassin's Creed game that maximizes the use of VR to immerse the player into becoming a Master Assassin", and Ubisoft gave a holiday 2023 window for Quest 2, Quest Pro and Quest 3.[5] The November 16 release date and the first gameplay trailer followed on September 22, 2023.[15][14] By launch the credited studios had grown to Ubisoft Red Storm as lead with Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Reflections, Mumbai, Pune, Montreal, Belgrade, Berlin, Quebec and Leamington contributing; Loverso was by then Red Storm's managing director.[2]

Sales and aftermath

On Ubisoft's earnings call for the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal year, held in February 2024, Guillemot said: "We have been a bit disappointed by what we were able to achieve on VR with Assassin's Creed. It did okay, and it continues to sell, but we thought it would sell more, so we are not increasing our investment on VR at the moment, because it needs to take off." He said Ubisoft had been "very impressed by what Apple came up with" but would continue to treat VR as "something that we have to look at but not invest too much in, until it grows enough." No sales figures were given.[11]

On March 19, 2026 Ubisoft eliminated 105 positions at Red Storm and said the studio would "cease all active game development," with remaining staff providing global IT support and working on the Snowdrop engine. Nexus VR was the studio's last shipped game; a Splinter Cell VR title and Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland had been cancelled earlier. Game Developer described the cuts as part of the cost-reduction plan Ubisoft announced in January 2026.[12] The decision was reported from an internal memo seen by GamesIndustry.biz, and Red Storm's earlier VR titles included Werewolves Within and Star Trek: Bridge Crew.[19][20] No sequel has been announced. As of September 2026 the game remains on sale on the Meta Horizon Store.[4]

Release

Platform Release date Notes
Meta Quest 2 November 16, 2023 Launch platform; US$39.99 on the Meta Horizon Store
Meta Quest 3 November 16, 2023 Launch platform; the Road to VR, UploadVR and MIXED reviews were conducted on it
Meta Quest Pro November 16, 2023 Launch platform

[2][4][3][16][17]

The game has not been released for any non-Quest headset. Ubisoft's product page lists Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3 as the platforms and links to the Meta store for purchase.[1]

Reception

Outlet or aggregator Score Notes
Metacritic 78 / 100 32 critic reviews, "generally favorable"; user score 7.9 from 64 ratings
OpenCritic 81 "Strong"; recommended by 86% of 21 critics
Road to VR 7.5 / 10 Gameplay 8, immersion 6, comfort 6
UploadVR 4 / 5
IGN 7 / 10
GamingTrend 95 / 100
COGconnected 85 / 100
TheSixthAxis 8 / 10
Screen Rant 3.5 / 5

[8][21][3][16]

Road to VR's Ben Lang, reviewing on a Quest 3, scored the game 7.5 out of 10. He praised the parkour, the stealth and the size of the traversable spaces, but wrote that the combat was "extremely easy to exploit (even on the hardest difficulty)", that mantling failed often enough to break the flow of parkour, that objective markers and tutorial pop-ups gave the game a "flatscreen" feel, and that the boot sequence took about 90 seconds and repeatedly asked to reconnect an account. His summary was that the game had AAA scope "but it's missing the polish."[3]

UploadVR's Henry Stockdale gave it 4 out of 5 and called it "the most fun I've ever had with Assassin's Creed", with the parkour and the Hidden Blade assassinations as the high points and locations such as Venice and Athens praised for their variety and draw distance. He found the tailing missions lacked suspense even on higher difficulties, saw performance stutters during enemy reinforcement waves on Quest 3 and pop-in on Quest 2, and closed by wishing for a sequel.[16] MIXED's Benjamin Danneberg, also on Quest 3, praised the open environments and assassination gameplay but described the melee combat against groups as "frantic", noted some blurred close-range textures, and hit bugs including sound dropouts and ragdoll glitches during testing.[17] Among the reviews collected by OpenCritic, COGconnected called it "probably the best action game available for the Meta Quest 3 system" and GamingTrend described it as "a showcase of what's possible in VR", while IGN scored it 7 out of 10.[21]

Awards

Award Category Result
Shacknews Awards 2023 Best VR Game Won
16th Unity Awards (2024) Best AR/VR Game Won
27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards (2024) Immersive Reality Game of the Year Nominated
27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards (2024) Immersive Reality Technical Achievement Nominated

Shacknews named it its Best VR Game of 2023 on December 20, 2023, citing the fit between the series' Animus premise and VR, the physical climbing, and the wrist-flick Hidden Blade.[22] At the 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, held on February 15, 2024 in Las Vegas, it was a finalist for Immersive Reality Game of the Year, which went to Asgard's Wrath 2, and for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement, won by Horizon Call of the Mountain.[23][9] At the 16th Unity Awards it won Best AR/VR Game over nominees including Demeo Battle, Arizona Sunshine 2 and I Expect You To Die 3: Cog in the Machine.[10]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Assassin's Creed Nexus VR". Ubisoft. https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/assassins-creed/nexus-vr. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Mikel Reparaz (2023-11-16). "Assassin's Creed Nexus VR Out Now". Ubisoft News. Ubisoft. https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/5xSmgL0t8f4hQ1y9putRWX/assassins-creed-nexus-vr-out-now. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Ben Lang (2023-11-16). "'Assassin's Creed Nexus VR' Review - AAA Without the Polish". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/assassins-creed-vr-nexus-review-meta-quest/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Assassin's Creed Nexus VR on Meta Quest". Meta Horizon Store. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/experiences/assassins-creed-nexus-vr/5812519008825194/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Mikel Reparaz (2023-06-12). "How Assassin's Creed Nexus VR Lets Players Become Master Assassins". Ubisoft News. Ubisoft. https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/14FPy9oly95ZNJ3w4tTTg9/how-assassins-creed-nexus-vr-lets-players-become-master-assassins. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Daniel O'Connor (2020-09-16). "Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell coming to Oculus VR". Ubisoft News. Ubisoft. https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/6GznsIJyxNpulUSMJNxLs2/assassins-creed-and-splinter-cell-coming-to-oculus-vr. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Scott Hayden (2023-06-01). "'Assassin's Creed VR' Full Reveal Coming June 12th at Ubisoft Forward". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/assassins-creed-vr-quest-2-release-date-trailer/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Assassin's Creed Nexus VR Reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/assassins-creed-nexus-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Nominees and Winners". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. https://www.interactive.org/awards/2024_27th_annual_dice_awards_93E8dk2_.asp?tab=cat. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "The 16th Unity Awards". Unity. Unity Technologies. https://unity.com/awards/2024. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Scott Hayden (2024-02-09). "Ubisoft "disappointed" in 'Assassin's Creed VR' Performance, Future VR Investments on Hold". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/ubisoft-assassins-creed-vr-failure-quest-2-3/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Diego Argüello (2026-03-19). "Ubisoft lays off 105 staff at Red Storm, ends game development". Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/ubisoft-lays-off-105-staff-at-red-storm-ends-game-development. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Scott Hayden (2023-10-18). "Ubisoft Details 'Assassin's Creed Nexus VR' Gameplay, Coming to Quest Next Month". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/ubisoft-assassins-creed-vr-quest-3-gameplay/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Scott Hayden (2023-09-22). "'Assassin's Creed Nexus VR' Gets First Gameplay Trailer, Coming to Quest in November". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/assassins-creed-vr-quest-release-date-gameplay/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Mikel Reparaz (2023-09-22). "Assassin's Creed Nexus VR Launches on November 16". Ubisoft News. Ubisoft. https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/47Q0bl959eSRomZ6MqWtLE/assassins-creed-nexus-vr-launches-on-november-16. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Henry Stockdale (2023-11-16). "Assassin's Creed Nexus VR Review: Stands Proud With The Series". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/assassins-creed-nexus-vr-review/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Benjamin Danneberg (2023-11-16). "Assassin's Creed Nexus VR Review: Oh. My. God. So. Good.". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/assassins-creed-nexus-vr-review/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  18. ↑ Scott Hayden (2022-04-25). "Report: 'Assassin's Creed VR' May Be Called 'Nexus', Video Reveals Prototype". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/report-assassins-creed-vr-nexus-video/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  19. ↑ Scott Hayden (2026-03-20). "Ubisoft Ends Game Development at Studio Behind 'Assassin's Creed VR'". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/ubisoft-shuts-assassins-creed-vr-studio/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  20. ↑ James Tocchio (2026-03-19). "Ubisoft Is Shutting Down The Studio Behind Assassin's Creed Nexus VR". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/ubisoft-ends-development-at-assassins-creed-nexus-vr-studio/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Assassin's Creed Nexus Reviews". OpenCritic. https://opencritic.com/game/15866/assassins-creed-nexus. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  22. ↑ Donovan Erskine (2023-12-20). "Shacknews Best VR Game of 2023 - Assassin's Creed Nexus VR". Shacknews. https://www.shacknews.com/article/138093/shacknews-best-vr-game-assassins-creed-nexus-vr. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  23. ↑ "27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Finalists Revealed". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. https://www.interactive.org/awards/27th_dice_awards_finalists.asp. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
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