For the first time, players can see what might have been a full-console entry in the Assassin’s Creed series set in ancient China. Footage from a reportedly cancelled project called Assassin’s Creed Destiny has surfaced online, offering a rare look at a game that never made it past the prototype stage.
The clips, discovered by MP1st in developer portfolios, originate from a build dated February 2025. They show a game that was clearly in active development at TiMi Studio Group, the Tencent-owned studio that also worked on the mobile title Assassin’s Creed Jade. Destiny, however, was intended as a proper console and PC release, not a mobile spin-off.
A Glimpse Into Ancient China
The footage centres on a mission in which a female assassin infiltrates a sacred palace under siege from the army of Xiang Yu, the historical Chinese warlord who played a pivotal role in the fall of the Qin Dynasty. The setting is 206 BCE, nine years after the timeline of Assassin’s Creed Jade, which takes place in 215 BCE.
What we see is recognisably Assassin’s Creed. The protagonist scales palace walls, executes stealth kills from the shadows, and performs the series’ iconic leap of faith from a great height. An early-stage boss encounter with Xiang Yu himself is also visible, though it is clearly rough around the edges.
Key detail: Animations for both male and female characters appear in the footage, suggesting players may have been able to choose their assassin’s gender, though this could also have been placeholder work.
The Spinning Umbrella and Other Details
Among the more unusual elements is a weapon that looks like a spinning umbrella, used in a placeholder test area for combat. The interface features ink-brush-style ability icons and a health bar adorned with a yin-yang emblem, fitting the Chinese setting. Close-ups of weapon designs, including Xiang Yu’s imposing halberd, also appear in the leaked material.
These details paint a picture of a game that, while early in development, had a clear creative vision. The ink-brush UI and the umbrella weapon suggest a team experimenting with the franchise’s formula rather than simply recycling existing mechanics.
Why Was Destiny Cancelled?
The cancellation appears to stem from a strategic shift at Tencent. In January 2025, TiMi Studio Group announced a restructuring that split the studio into four teams, each focused on different projects. Destiny was scrapped shortly afterwards.
Reports suggest that Tencent pivoted away from Western franchises, citing lower profit margins compared to domestic Chinese releases and simpler party-style games. The same restructuring also killed Project Athena, a Greek mythology action game, and Project Invictus, a cyberpunk open-world title directed by Assassin’s Creed veteran Ashraf Ismail. TiMi’s Montreal division was closed entirely in February 2026.
Ubisoft has not commented officially on Destiny’s cancellation. The publisher has been open about having “several other projects currently in the works, all at different stages of development”, but Destiny was clearly not among them.
Assassin’s Creed Jade Still Lives
Despite Destiny’s demise, Assassin’s Creed Jade remains in development. The mobile game, announced in 2022 as a collaboration between Ubisoft and Tencent’s publishing arm Level Infinite, is still set in the Qin Dynasty. Franchise boss Jean Guesdon confirmed earlier this year that Jade would feature co-operative gameplay, though no release date has been given.
Whether Jade can deliver on the promise that Destiny showed in its brief prototype footage remains to be seen. For now, the leaked clips are the only evidence that a console-quality Assassin’s Creed set in ancient China ever existed.
The broader picture at Ubisoft is hardly rosy. This week, the publisher proposed closing Finnish studio RedLynx, creator of the Trials series, and announced significant layoffs at Ubisoft Singapore, the studio behind Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. Up to 52 positions are affected in Finland, with 70 cut in Singapore.
