Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Confirmed To Be Next Game In Series, Official Artwork Released

After several days of rumors and speculation, it appears that Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is indeed on it's way to consoles in the future. Ubisoft has confirmed the game's existence after several days of leaked, unofficial game art...by releasing a piece of official game art.

The first official image of the new game can be seen over on IGN, or just below. Another interesting tidbit being reported by Gamespot  is that the PS3 version of the game will have roughly an hour's worth of exclusive content.

While this puts to rest the hype concerning the leaked artwork, featuring an Assassin standing tall amongst pirates aboard a ship, beyond that this announcement gives no information that gamers do not already know. We see the new character standing on a ship, weapons drawn, standing over a corpse of somebody, most likely a pirate or privateer (privateers were government funded pirates, usually sent out to harass and eliminate other pirates).

The Jolly Roger flag has been modified to include the Assassin's logo on the flag. There is somebody standing in the background that is hard to make out, but seems to have similar garb to the Assassin. This is hardly the series first foray into the open seas, as Assassin's Creed 3 and the Liberation spinoff both feature naval missions. It will be interesting to see if Ubisoft makes the focus more on epic naval battles, rather than sneaking around the likely seaport islands of the Caribbean, where many the popular pirates of history set up shop in the early 1700's.

For now, gamers will have to be content with what they have, but not for long. The game will be officially announced soon. Ubisoft is having the unveiling on March 4th, at 9:00 PST. Until then, gamers will have to do all their swashbuckling and adventuring on the high seas in their imagination.