Assassin's Creed Black Flag confirms massive new update players have wanted since launch

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is finally getting a feature players have been requesting since the remake arrived earlier this year.

With this new add-on confirmed by Ubisoft, keen fans will get another opportunity to embark on Edward Kenway’s beloved pirate adventure in an all-new way.

After many weeks of questions about the long-awaited mode, the developer has given us a timeframe at last.

Ubisoft confirms New Game Plus in Black Flag Resynced's next update

New Game Plus is finally arriving after months of waiting (Ubisoft)

In a post shared on the official Assassin's Creed X (formerly Twitter) account on October 22, Ubisoft confirmed that New Game Plus will be on Black Flag Resynced soon, writing: “Thank you, everyone, for your patience. New Game+ is coming to Black Flag Resynced next week.”

That places the NG+ update sometime between October 26 and November 1, although the publisher has yet to reveal an exact release date.

As reported by GamesRadar+ back in July, Ubisoft said that New Game Plus was one of its priorities for Black Flag Resynced, but Assassin’s Creed players have faced a wait of more than three months for its arrival. Although, that thankfully might not be as long as the potential Black Flag Resynced expansion that leaked, if true.

Still, this makes for another reason that fans of the original Black Flag should pick the remake up if they haven’t already — as the 2013 version of Assassin's Creed IV never even had New Game Plus to begin with.

However, Ubisoft's latest announcement was brief, likely not revealing more until said update drops. Until that time comes next week, beyond the fact that it’s coming, we still don’t know how the NG+ mode will work, what progress players can keep, or whether any extra rewards are planned.

What could carry over in Black Flag Resynced's New Game Plus?

Shadows' New Game Plus rewards players with two exclusive legendary weapons, which could hopefully be the same for Black Flag (Ubisoft)

Previous Assassin's Creed games offer some clues about what players might be able to take into a second playthrough, although nothing has been confirmed for Black Flag Resynced.

Valhalla never received a New Game Plus, but Assassin's Creed Odyssey set the stage for what Black Flag could follow by letting players keep their character level, abilities, weapons, armour, resources, and ship upgrades. The latter is an especially notable parallel we’re drawing on, since getting to keep upgrades for the Jackdaw in Black Flag, would be an incredibly useful addition — not having to re-gather the materials to do it all again.

Meanwhile, Assassin's Creed Mirage allowed players to carry over unlocked skills, tools, equipment, cosmetics and collectibles, again letting you potentially save time by already having Edward's fully kitted outfits and weapons ready to go.

The more recent Assassin's Creed Shadows went even further, though, by retaining character levels, inventory, gear customisations, mounts, and hideout progression.

It’s not like Black Flag Resynced is suddenly going to add a horse for Edward to ride on, but what extra bonus feature it could replicate from Shadows’ New Game Plus is the addition of exclusive legendary weaponry — which, as Ubisoft confirmed for Update 1.0.7 at the time, are the Whisper of Gold and Dragon’s Gold ‘Legendary Katana’ weapons upon a completed NG+ playthrough.

There are already a handful of gold-themed weapons in Black Flag Resynced, so perhaps an alternative pirate-themed reward like ‘Davy Jones’ Twin Blades’ might still be a nice New Game Plus bonus for dedicated Assassin’s Creed fans.