Yesterday, we told you about the fancy Assassin's Creed 2 bundle that was confirmed for Europe. With all the details given about that bundle, one critical piece of information was missing: when it's coming out. Well, now you diorama builders know how long you have to craft the perfect backdrop for that Ezio figurine (compared above with the official art of Ezio in a different costume) -- and also when you'll be able to play the game.

Ubisoft told Eurogamer that Assassin's Creed 2, in both regular and "Black Edition," will be released on November 20 in Europe, just three days after the North American launch date. Unfortunately for American shelves, Ubisoft still has yet to confirm the "Black Edition" for North America -- but it seems likely that American fans will be given the opportunity to spend more money as well.

Assassin's Creed 2 is Patrice Désilets' first sequel. If there's any anxiety or fatigue squirming inside of him, it's well hidden by an infectious enthusiasm and candor. Speaking with us during E3 2009 in Ubisoft's den (and thus, din), the creative director frankly discussed several issues with us, including one which you may have heard about, over and over again:

Joystiq: Do you mind if I go back to Assassin's Creed 1 for just a bit?

Patrice Désilets: Yeah, yeah, no problem.

So, that game comes out. You're reading the reviews and people are complaining about repetition.

Yeah.

What do you feel at this point? Do you agree with them?

Repetition for me is a point of view, really. Like, what is repetitive or not? You know, sometimes you go and play the same game over and over again and you are all right with the repetitiveness of it. And in AC1 some people just couldn't bear it. We listened to them while we were making the second one, but, I wasn't nervous or mad. What I was a little disappointed with was some reviewers, how they treated us. They have the right to their opinions and everything, but I felt like they maybe went too fast. But you know what? I also received [opinions that were] the other way around. People being really happy about the game. Doing it two, three, four, five times.

Sure.

And we sold some eight million copies of it, you know.

Eight million people can't be wrong?

"I'm telling you. At the end of AC2 you'll say‚ 'Holy crap, I never saw it coming.'"

That's according to Assassin's Creed II creative director, Patrice Désilets. In addition to saying "Holy crap," you should also prepare yourself to exclaim, "But what happens next?!" Désilets noted that his first Ubisoft sequel will answer plenty of questions -- but not all of them.

"There will be a cliffhanger," he admitted. "It's cool to have a cliffhanger." The director feels that players need to experience just a little bit of frustration at the game's completion, though a new way to replay completed missions should counter at least some of that. Oh, and remember that glowing writing on the wall?

"It has nothing to do with Assassin's Creed II, what's written on the wall has to do with the Assassin's Creed universe, not the second one."

Aural assassination accompaniment news now, with the first confirmation that composer Jesper Kyd will be returning to score Ubisoft's upcoming foray into ye olde stealthe, Assassin's Creed II. Speaking to producer Sebastian Puel, we established that the first title's musical talent would tailor a new soundtrack for Ezio's Venician killing spree.

We also spotted Jesper Kyd at the Ubisoft E3 booth. After assuring him that Puel had already spilled the beans, Kyd noted that he was still in the process of composing the music, ahead of the game's November 17th release. We can't wait to hear it! Oh, and play it, obviously.

Completionists looking forward to strapping themselves in Da Vinci's flying machine in Assassin's Creed II will need to pick up the game's PSP version as well. Speaking during Sony's E3 2009 press gathering, Ubisoft revealed that the upcoming sequel will feature unlockable weapons, which players will only be able to unsheathe by connecting the game to the series' upcoming PSP debut this holiday. Animus compatibility, however, is still a ways off, so we're told.

Hey, what is this? Something interesting out of the Ubisoft keynote? After several days of Ubisoft press conference, the company hit us with some Assassin's Creed 2 news and footage.

In addition to the crazy announcement that Assassin's Creed 2's Ezio has beaten pretty much the whole world to the invention of the gun, Ubisoft announced that the game will be out on November 17. ...Seriously, if you've got advanced weaponry like that in the 1400's, you could probably make a very tidy living as an inventor. Why all the running around and killing people?

Steam is ready to let you sneak up and take a few of Ubisoft's stealth-action titles at very reasonable prices. Until June 5, Assassin's Creed is only $10, while the exploits of Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell and Double Agent are a mere $5.

If those prices are too high, remember that Steam also has Unreal Tournament III to play this weekend for free. So frag away for gratis in multiplayer, or take the quiet killing of single player. The choice is yours.

Ubisoft Montreal's Sebastien Puel, producer on Assassin's Creed 2, is in charge of 450 people (still not confirmed if he drives a Dodge Stratus). Those 450 people, however, are in charge of bringing Ezio Auditore de Firenze to life before the Ubisoft-imposed March 10 deadline arrives.

Puel claims the group is roughly three times the size of the original crew of folks employed to create AC1 and that, among those folks, 75 percent have been kept on board from the nascent team. "Making [Assassin's Creed] from A to Z took around four years ... it's a very good thing we are keeping most of the core members who envisioned the first Assassin's Creed," he says, adding that the original team had "thousands of ideas" left out of the original project, ready to be implemented this time around. We've made no secrets about our love for the original and would be lying if we didn't express our excitement over getting to play it in a few weeks at E3 2009. Hopefully not all 450 developers will be demonstrating the game for us.

[Via Videogamer]

Although we were subjected to the "bait and switch" Gameloft pulled at GDC, IGN more recently managed to get some details about the upcoming Assassin's Creed iPhone game. The title is based on Altair's Chronicles, the Nintendo DS prequel to the main game, where the white-robed killer's guild covets "The Chalice."

IGN speculates the game will cost between $6-$10, making its presumed three-hour length a little easier to digest than that of the $30 DS title. Check out some screens below to see what the game will look like on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

You are looking at the main character of Assassin's Creed 2. According to our tipster, this image was discovered on the official Ubisoft forums before it was taken down. The high-resolution render is definitely authentic, and the character possesses more than a little resemblance to Altair from the first game. Looks like gray hoodies are always in fashion, regardless of the era.

Other rumored details have supposedly been leaked in early copies of the next Game Informer. ScrewAttack says the main character is Ezio Auditore de Firenze, a nobleman of Florence from 1476. Ezio is yet another genetic predecessor of Desmond's (y'know, the annoying guy that doesn't kill people?). You'll supposedly be able to swim and access a gliding machine at DaVinci's workshop. And most excitingly of all, you'll play through more mission types. Word of that alone makes us eagerly anticipate our next issue of GI. (Check out the cover, after the break.)

[Thanks, Darknessbear!]

It appears that the ANIMUS has been fired up once again. A teaser site has appeared for Assassin's Creed 2, along with a host of clues about the future of the franchise. While the teaser leaves a lot to the imagination, it does feature Leonardo da Vinci's famous Vitruvian Man quite prominently, lending credence to the rumor that the sequel is set in the Renaissance era.

Beyond snippets of 15th century artwork, the teaser site doesn't reveal any other details for the Assassin's second outing. The website does, however, include an interesting bonus: Printing off a logo of an artifact that displays at the end of the teaser video and holding it up to a web cam while on a special section of the website reveals a 3D model of Altair's hidden blade weapon -- which appears to be one of five images available. Spooky ... but, hey, marketing team! Wasn't Altair (and the rest of his assassin brethren) missing a finger?

Update: Thanks to our commenters who pointed out a backwards message that says "Game Informer 04.16.09." Expect more Assassin's Creed 2 news soon!


[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Assassin's Creed won't be sneaking its way onto iPhone until "end of April, early May," according to Gameloft. We were supposed to get hands-on time with the product today, but due to a development issue, the title has been delayed until the aforementioned release window. There is currently no price and no images are being shared.

Gameloft also told us the mobile space was "getting old and dry," but the iPhone has re-energized the market. The company, which doesn't know the meaning of recession, has seen strong sales from The Oregon Trail, Hero of Sparta and Asphalt 4 Elite. Gameloft is also looking to work on more titles with Ubisoft ... but it'd be nice if we could see how Assassin's Creed is coming along first.

Ubisoft games are no strangers to the silver screen. Far Cry and Prince of Persia IPs have already fallen into the hands of movie directors and it looks like Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell are next in line. In fact, Splinter Cell has been on radar for a long time, ever since a teaser trailer popped up in 2005's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory ... but whatever happened to that? With the Clancy rights now secured, it looks like Ubisoft is finally moving forward.

Gamespot reports that Ubisoft has plans of simultaneously developing games and films, with upcoming Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell titles (and possibly more in the future) considered as possible celluloid projects. Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat said this concurrent synergy of creative processes will "make better games" and better emotional investment in games. It sounds like a good idea ... as long as Ubisoft doesn't hand any more projects over to Uwe Boll.

The iPhone is a real gaming platform. Seriously. In fact, it's big enough to get its own version of Japanese gaming mag Famitsu. The debut issue covers new iPhone games: Metal Gear Solid: Touch, Resident Evil: Degeneration and Terminator Salvation. It also features a first look at Assassin's Creed.

Yes, the Apple handheld is getting its own version of Altair's adventure. According to Famitsu, the game will use an on-screen virtual pad for the controls. A video of an Assassin's Creed game for "high end phones" is available on YouTube (embedded after the break) and it looks very similar to the previously released DS game. We hope the iPhone version takes advantage of the platform's power -- maybe make it look more like a PSP game?

[Via andriasang.com]