But the mechanical foundations of its gameplay loop were definitely interesting back then, and have since made it quite a popular title in the illustrious franchise’s lineup. Indeed, it’s popular enough to warrant a free update that brings a graphical bump to the familiar game while adding an entirely new mission, complete with an antagonist who makes even El Sueño seem harmless by comparison?

But is it enough of a celebratory nod to 25 years of Ghost Recon? Does the new update make Wildlands feel more current-gen than the original version? Can the return of the Predator event be enough to put The Ghosts back in the limelight? Probably not, and that’s a shame.

Let’s get the new 4K/60 fps update out of the way early. Yes, it makes the graphics quite smooth while the visuals received a nice upgrade. Lighting and reflections look a lot better, although low-light situations do become problematic, a flaw I’m going to touch upon again a little later. However, the pop-in from the original release, along with character models and textures that look very outdated by modern standards, make it obvious that this one’s a last-gen title on a current-gen system.

However, the one upside here is that my base PS5 managed 60fps even in intense firefights and other resource-heavy situations, allowing for a very smooth experience and markedly better gunplay thanks to how much easier aiming is when there are more frames in play. I only wish that the load times had been better optimised, as getting in and out of the action took long enough for me to notice, which is saying something today.

Of course, the new Last Rites mission is the star of the show and its premise is interesting enough. Taking around one to two hours to finish, Last Rites is accessible directly from the main menu with no prerequisites. It sees the Ghosts return to Bolivia, where a new handler presents them with a fresh target: La Llorona. She’s a feisty one, and presented as an antagonist so unhinged, putting her out of her misery almost feels like a mercy. Of course, she’s inspired so much zealous fervor within her ranks that getting to her requires some meticulous work. Well, the Ghosts have never walked away from a challenge now, have they?

"The Ghosts return to Bolivia, where a new handler presents them with a fresh target."

The story has the twists and turns you’d come to expect from a Ghost Recon title, although one of them came early enough for it to feel like quite a curveball, and in a good way. Things are presented to you on the go just like in the base game, and you’re going to be spending your time traversing the new sub-region this mission’s locked into, with new information being presented to you with each objective you complete. It’s interesting, and definitely among the highlights of the update for me. It’s well-placed, well-written, and definitely more than capable of holding my interest.

The voice acting is effective, while the presentation feels a little too similar to the rest of the game to stand out. That the main Campaign’s fight against Santa Blanca only receives a passing mention is probably a good thing, since it frees this side chapter from having to force references to events from the rest of Bolivia into the fray. It helps keep Last Rites focused on its antagonists, and that’s a very good thing given that they come across as a viable threat.

However, the objectives themselves are nothing more than an excuse to send you from one place to the next, with armed compounds you must infiltrate to either collect intel yourself or perhaps send your drone to eavesdrop on a high-ranking member of La Llorona’s organization. Good luck finding something important in the dark, though. The low light performance was a serious downer, making it very annoying to navigate indoor environments.

You get to take the same vehicles that the base game offered, while some of them come with cool paint jobs to add a bit of celebratory flair to things. Of course, driving those vehicles is as frustrating as it’s ever been with their tendency to wildly oversteer and spin out of control at even the slightest bit of hard turning. What’s even more annoying is that dying or failing an objective respawns you at a considerable distance away, forcing you to endure another round of frustrating driving to return to where you were.

It’s slightly disappointing that a story that’s quite intriguing isn’t backed up by gameplay that matches it. Lackluster objectives are joined by an enemy AI that remains largely unchanged from the rest of the game, along with stealth options like Sync Shot that can let you command your teammates to just clear entire patrols without a single one of them being any the wiser. That thing seriously needs a nerf on its cooldowns given how it trivializes a lot of the game. Is it fun? Hell, yeah! Is it anything we haven’t already seen in Wildlands? Sadly no.

"The default setting is probably more than enough for casual players, but the more hardcore Ghosts amongst you are going to appreciate what’s on offer and how it makes things more demanding if that’s how you push your sliders."

I found myself tearing through missions on both Arcade and Normal, while greater difficulty options turned the tables on me more often than not. Of course, the new customization options are most welcome, letting you tweak everything from enemy behaviour and damage values to weapon restrictions, friendly fire, weather, and HUD elements until you’ve shaped the experience into something that feels just right for you. The default setting is probably more than enough for casual players, but the more hardcore Ghosts amongst you are going to appreciate what’s on offer and how it makes things more demanding if that’s how you push your sliders.

Enemy aggression and awareness are pretty great, although I’d say that it’s a very familiar AI given how many times we’ve seen it before. Wildlands might have been good for its time, but it’s too lacking by modern standards to make this free update do any wonders. Yes, the returning Predator event should give you a few more hours of fun, but it’s essentially as good now as it was then, and there isn’t much more to say about it.

As far as the free update goes, you’re getting a visual bump, a new standalone mission, customization options, and not really much else. Last Rites is definitely good enough to make Wildlands veterans come back to Bolivia for a time, but can it make them stay? That depends on how addictive they found the original base game. But for new players, if you weren’t already sold on Wildlands, it isn’t likely that Last Rites is going to work any miracles.

As a part of a game that’s still listed as a PS4 title, it’s probably worth taking advantage of the trial weekend to just dive into Wildlands and get through it if you don’t own a copy of the game. The current PlayStation Store discount is also quite tempting if Ghost Recon is something you’ve enjoyed over the years, or are curious about trying out. But as a purchase, it isn’t something I can recommend wholeheartedly in a world where titles like Ready or Not make for far better experiences.

Last Rites is enough of a firework show to mark a milestone that many other franchises in modern gaming would be envious of. But other than that, it isn’t much more than an interesting side chapter in Bolivia, far removed from Santa Blanca while retaining the main campaign’s limitations, and that’s probably its biggest weakness. It’s still fun if you’re playing it for free, though.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

The free update also adds tons of new customization options, including sleeve tattoos, helmets, backpack patches, paint jobs, and much more. Furthermore, the Predator mission, where the Ghosts take on the intergalactic hunter, has returned.

The update also brings several quality-of-life changes and improvements. For instance, Ghost Parameters are now available in other PvE modes. This means you can enable authentic reloading, friendly fire and a choice between one or two primary weapons. In addition to removing various UI elements, the glow on crates and throwable item previews can be turned off.

It’s also possible to change the time of day and set the weather, enabling the perfect conditions for a stealth op. Difficulty levels have also been changed to presets which can be tweaked, allowing you to modify enemy firepower and detection time (among other settings) on a granular basis.

There’s a lot more, and new players can play for free until August 10th with progression carrying over.

“Thrilled to share some exciting news,” Guesdon wrote in a LinkedIn post (via machine translation). “After an incredible professional journey, including 16 years at Ubisoft and then leading the critically acclaimed Dead Space remake at EA Motive, Eric Baptizat is coming back to the Assassin’s Creed family as our new Game Director for the brand.”

“Eric needs no introduction in this universe. 16 years at Ubisoft, key contributions to Black Flag, Origins, and Valhalla as Game Director, his passion for gameplay craft and his deep connection to this franchise speak for themselves. Seeing someone with his expertise, his rigor, and his collaborative spirit step into this role fills me with confidence and, honestly, a lot of excitement for what’s ahead for the brand. Welcome back, Eric. We’re so glad to have you home.”

What this means for the Assassin’s Creed franchise in the longer term remains to be seen. Ubisoft hasn’t yet officially unveiled any of its new games, and has only just confirmed two are in the works – Codename Hexe and Codename Jade. Of the two, the former is believed to be a major game being developed for PC and consoles, and is the likely candidate for the next big release.

A recent rumor has indicated that Codename Hexe will feature a “large-scale” map that, while offering plenty of room for exploration, will still be quite linear. To aid with the exploration, reports have indicated that the player’s movement will be quite fluid, and even “more advanced than ever before.” There are also believed to be a few mystical elements in the game in some “shape or form”.

A core narrative theme of Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe is believed to revolve around the German Witch Trials, during which players will take on the role of a new character named Anika. The visual style will reportedly be “dark and a lot better than Shadows.”

“They have taken the negatives from Shadows and turned it into a masterpiece designed to bring your attention. When Ubisoft said it was dark, it is,” said known leaker RogueTx.

The most recent entry in the franchise was Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, which was released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S last month. The development team has continued to provide post-launch support with plenty of patches, with a recent one allowing players to hide the blowpipe from Edward Kenway’s body.

As its name might imply, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is a remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, which was originally developed for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The title takes place during the Golden Age of Piracy, with players taking on the role of Edward Kenway – a pirate who finds himself caught in a web of conspiracies between the Assassins and the Templars. For more details, check out our review.

In a turn of events that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone paying attention to the games industry, Fortnite has taken the number one spot across PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. On the PlayStation side of things, the top 5 aside from Fortnite include NBA 2K26, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Roblox, and Grand Theft Auto 5 Remastered. Xbox, on the other hand, features Roblox, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto 5 Remastered, and Minecraft in its top 5.

“Each list had exactly one new game reach the top 20. The rest were mostly long-running live service or annualized sports titles,” acknowledged Piscatella. “This is just the PS/XBX market right now.” In another post, he noted that the current market leads to “thousands of other games that come out every year fighting for the attention of a relatively small enthusiast portion of the total player base.”

As we get deeper in both lists, we continue to see the trend of older live-service titles, like Apex Legends and Rocket League. There are a few exceptions to be seen, however. Palworld’s recent 1.0 release likely played a large role in letting it breach the top 20 list, for instance. Similarly, on Xbox, Destiny 2 has managed to climb up to number 19. Curiously, the Xbox list also included Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, which is entirely missing from the PS5 side. Shift at Midnight’s absence from PlayStation’s list, on the other hand, is more understandable due to it simply not getting released on the platform.

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls‘ presence on the PS5 list also represents an interesting data point, since the game hasn’t yet been released, and was only available for a single weekend.

It looks like Steam is the only one of the three platforms to offer a more diverse list of the most-played games. Palworld currently sits at the top of the list, followed by Counter-Strike 2, Battlefield 6, Slay the Spire 2, and Marvel Rivals rounding up the top 5. Further in, we also get to see titles like the indie hit Meccha Chameleon before more live-service games like Helldivers 2, Destiny 2, and Rocket League come in. The presence of Valve’s Deadlock is also noteworthy, since it is still an invite-only game that hasn’t yet been officially released to the public.

Seeing lists like this that are broadly dominated by live-service games goes a long way in explaining the reasoning behind companies chasing similar trends, even if they happen to fail. We last saw this with Sony’s push towards live-service games, which ultimately culminated in a lack of new game releases, the cancelation of several projects, and even some studios being shuttered.

"Surely expanding the list to 20 would show plenty of new games"Well. Sure. Each list had exactly one new game reach the top 20. The rest were mostly long running live service or annualized sports titles.This is just the PS/XBX market right now.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-08-03T15:44:17.812Z

Circana Player Engagement Tracker – US Top 10 Titles by Weekly Active Users (Not Concurrent) – W/E Jul 25, 2026- Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls debuted 17th on PlayStation- Shift at Midnight ranked 17th on Xbox in launch week- Path of Exile jumped to 19th on Steam from 119th a week ago

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-08-03T14:30:28.614Z

Aside from the blowpipe issue, the patch also brings in a variety of bug fixes and improvements for Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, ranging from a larger number of autosave slots to UI glitches when using mouse and keyboard, and even a number of bugged quests where NPC characters would either glitch out or remain in low-quality mode. Check out the full patch notes below for more details.

Game director Richard Knight had previously spoken about the team’s plans to offer long-term support for Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. In an interview, he acknowledged that while he couldn’t officially commit to anything, he noted that year-long support “doesn’t feel like a crazy bet.”

“We need to, you know, fix bugs. Sorry for anyone running into bugs, uh, they hurt – they’re painful for us, too. And we do want to add some quality-of-life stuff. So, I mean, it’s a pretty reasonable guess.”

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced was released across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in July, and has proven to be incredibly successful, having sold more than 3.5 million copies in fourteen days. For more details, take a look at our review. Also check out our thoughts about why it shows what really went wrong with the Assassin’s Creed franchise.

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Title Update 1.0.6 patch notes:

General

• Increased number of autosaves from 5 to 10 to allow players to load from earlier progressions.
• Fixed an issue on PC where Cutscenes could be locked at 30 FPS when Graphics settings were set to ‘custom’ from any ‘Low’ presets.
• Added missing tutorial on how to ‘Throw Money’.
• Fixed an issue where DLC Pack notifications could appear at the start of a new game.
• Fixed an issue where Edward could start sliding right after fast travelling to a synchronized viewpoint while sprinting and jumping down.
• Fixed an issue on PC for Mouse & Keyboard where Quest icon could be marked/unmarked when selecting the Quest tab.
• Fixed an issue where players did not receive a purchase confirmation message for Resource Packs.
• Fixed an issue where players could be unable to parkour while holding down RT after remapping RT to sprint.
• Fixed minor crashes that could happen during Ground and Naval fights.
• Fixed an issue where Edward’s hood could not be toggled during the Leap of Faith.

Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where players could be unable to perform leg sweeps on enemies in an ‘attentive’ or ‘suspicious’ state.
• Fixed an issue where the Brute Elites were sometimes not charging towards the player.
• Fixed an issue that could occur when players tried to hire dancers while on top of a box.
• Fixed an issue where “Quick Use Rope Dart” may no longer be usable when interrupted by an enemy attack or after a rope dart hang.
• Fixed an issue where players were sometimes unable to assassinate drunk pirates in smoke after entering combat with them.
• Fixed an issue where Enemy ships sometimes did no damage when ramming the Jackdaw at certain angles.
• Fixed an issue where dead bodies on benches could be looted/carried after loading a save file.
• Fixed delayed reaction from guards upon seeing a hanging dead body.
• Fixed an issue where Edward wasn’t always turning to look at where he was aiming in a Naval battle.
• Fixed an issue where Edward could trigger a takedown while vaulting over the enemy.
• Fixed an issue where the Naval Convoy’s leader could go flying after lowering wanted level or sending it to Kenway’s fleet during Boarding.

World

• Fixed an issue where players may get stuck when attempting to parkour between a tree and a wall in Kingston.
• Fixed an issue where players could ‘Fast Travel’ to an unsynchronized viewpoint in Havana.
• Fixed an issue where there was no warning message displayed when trying to fast travel to a captured fort while in a restricted area.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in free fall when climbing behind the chest at Mariguana Island.

Progression & Economy

• Fixed an issue where the Kraken wheel cost was listed incorrectly / the Kraken wheel is wheely expensive.
• Fixed an issue where ‘The Benjamin’ ship codex unlocked at a later quest.

UI/Menu

• Updated font for Simplified Chinese to allow for better readability.
• Fixed an issue where players may become soft-locked when switching to the Map tab while visualizing a Codex entry.
• Fixed alignment issues when language was set to Arabic.
• Fixed an issue where Ally ship icons were displayed
• Fixed an issue where the Vision Preset’s enabled black background for objectives remained on during Modern Rifts.

Visuals & Graphics

• Fixed multiple animation issues.
• Fixed minor ragdoll issues.
• Fixed multiple camera issues during assassinations.
• Fixed lighting issues while underwater.
• Fixed visual gaps present in the Fort wall of Nassau.
• Fixed Enemies’ blood coming out from hips instead of chin during the pistol finishing kill
• Fixed visual issues in Tavern Brawl with knocking out enemies near tables and chairs.
• Fixed clipping issues with the cape of ‘Hellion Armor’ when there are strong winds.
• Fixed issues where PSSR was not properly enabled if the same account was used first on PS5 and then on PS5 Pro

Localization

• Fixed incorrect localization of “Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced” on all platform packages in Simplified Chinese.
• Fixed incorrect localization of the Trophy/Achievement “Ed the Diver” in Simplified Chinese.

Audio

• Fixed various missing audio issues.
• Fixed missing audio for when a normal guard blocked melee attacks from the player.
• Fixed an issue where the Hideout’s watermill audio would be played after entering and exiting the menu despite the Hideout’s Garden not being unlocked.
• Balanced certain dialogues in Simplified Chinese to be more audible.

SPOILERS AHEAD! 

Quests

• “Overrun and Outnumbered”: Fixed an issue where James Kidd remained idle if the player skipped the cutscene and quickly used a “Sleep Dart” on an enemy.
• “Delirium”: Fixed an issue where the sails could be seen floating when swimming up.
• “Traveling Salesman”: Fixed an issue where low-quality civilian models could be observed if the player skipped through the cutscene.
• “Vainglorious Bastards”: Fixed an issue where the “Royal African Ship” could sometimes sink after the cutscene.
• “A Second Chance”: Fixed an issue where Edward could fast travel to the Jackdaw while carrying food, which may cause the food to disappear.
• “Mayan Mysteries”: Fixed an issue where the “Mayan Armor” could not be obtained due to missing a Mayan stone that was obtained before “Overrun and Outnumbered” quest.
• “A Cockalorum”: Lucy will sometimes go out of hiding during ‘Reach the villa’ objective.
• “The Sage’s buried secret”: Fixed an issue where James Kidd could get stuck if the player blocks his route up the rocks.
• “What the Devil!”: Fixed an issue where players could unintentionally clear the objective “Board the HMS Demolition” as Edward.
• “Templar Ships”: Fixed an issue where players could remain stuck in combat if they were detected by enemies while eavesdropping on civilians.
• “Upton Travers”: Fixed an issue where the objective to ‘Kill Upton’ was missing after loading a save file.
• “Diving for Medicines”: Fixed an issue where players could lose autosave files if they participate in “Uptown Travers” during the main quest.
• Fixed an issue in certain quests where enemies did not react accordingly if inflicted by sleep/berserk dart while following another person.
• Fixed an issue where on Black Island, “Morgan’s Treasures” and “Midnight Moonshine” could sometimes remain unavailable to players.

While few details about Kodiak have been revealed, the report describes it as being a game where “player interactions and player-driven stories take center stage,” which indicates that emergent gameplay will be the title’s primary focus. The project seemingly only exited its concept stages earlier this month, with the previously-rumored project Maverick forming its core foundations. However, it looks like the extraction shooter elements are being left behind. Generally speaking, the report describes Kodiak as a “really ambitious” project, and notes that it won’t be coming out any time soon.

Previous reports about Maverick indicated that the constant ticking of time would serve as one of its primary themes. According to Ubisoft leaker RogueTx, Maverick’s main narrative would revolve around the player needing to rescue their six family members under a strict 72-hour time limit. It was also described as featuring fauna like grizzly bears, wolves, foxes, and deer, which would serve as obstacles as well as potential sources of valuable crafting materials. Along with this, it was described as featuring safe houses and a weapon durability mechanic that would require players to actively care for their weapons.

Back in May, yet another report featured an alleged audio clip from Maverick, which featured synth-styled music with heavy beats and constant ticking. The clip was accompanied by a picture of what appeared to be key art from the shooter, indicating that its core setting would be Alaska.

Aside from a single statement by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, the company has largely been quiet about the Far Cry franchise. Back in February, Guillemot said in an interview that the company was working on on “two very promising projects”, as well as several entries in the Assassin’s Creed franchise.

The last entry in the franchise was 2021’s Far Cry 6, released on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The title revolved around the Caribbean island of Yara, with players taking on the role of guerrilla fighter Dani Rojas and opposing local dictator Antón Castillo, played by critically acclaimed actor Giancarlo Esposito. While earlier parts of the story revolve around Dani trying to escape from the island, the player is quickly drawn into fighting back against the dictator and supporting the ever-growing revolutionary forces.

Before this, Ubisoft released Far Cry 5 in 2019, putting players in the shoes of a rookie Junior Deputy tasked with taking down the cult Project at Eden’s Gate in Hope County, Montana. The title was followed-up with a narrative sequel dubbed Far Cry: New Dawn in 2019, taking place after one Far Cry 5’s apocalyptic ending 17 years after its story. Both games were released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

To access these games on PC, users will have to log in to Ubisoft Connect with the same account that has been linked to their Xbox. Users can then simply add the titles to their PC libraries, assuming they also own them on Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S. It is also worth noting that this offer only applies to digitally-purchased games.

In an FAQ, Microsoft has confirmed that the same offer doesn’t work the other way around; PC players can’t get free Xbox copies of Ubisoft games for console. As for add-on content and expansions, players will get access to just about everything they owned on consoles aside from consumable items and in-game currencies. Titles that support cross-progression, on the other hand, will get all of the items.

The offer seems like a good one for players that own a PC alongside their Xbox consoles, and there don’t seem to be any catches that might make someone stop and think twice before grabbing the free games. The fact that there doesn’t seem to be any time limit and even new customers who pick up one of Ubisoft’s games on Xbox will be eligible for the PC version as well makes it even better.

There are currently no details about whether Ubisoft and Xbox will further expand on this partnership by introducing older or newer games in the offer. Eagle-eyed readers might notice that some titles, like Assassin’s Creed Shadows or Star Wars Outlaws, don’t seem to be part of the offer.

However, as part of a further expansion of the partnership, “a broad selection” of Ubisoft titles like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Star Wars Outlaws, Rainbow Six Siege, Skull and Bones, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown now have premium editions and add-on content available through Xbox on PC.

In the meantime, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently spoke about Sony’s decision to end PlayStation disc production, calling it “no big deal” for the company. Drawing comparisons to the PC market, Guillemot expressed the belief that the move to digital-only will help spur some growth on the platform. “There’s also some pressure for the future on the cost of machines, and being able to be only digital will help to have more accessible machines,” he said. “There are pluses and minuses, but we think it will not disturb the industry too much.”

Ubisoft games on Xbox that can be acquired on PC for free:

• Assassin’s Creed Mirage
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
• Far Cry 6
• Immortals Fenyx Rising
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Riders Republic
• Skull and Bones
• The Crew 2
• The Crew Motorfest
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
• Watch Dogs Legion

The topic came up when JorRaptor asked game director Richard Knight about adding mission replay except with new challenges, which the latter thought “would be awesome.” Concerning Mirage’s take on the same, he said, “We’ve looked into this one quite a bit.”

The implementation may be more difficult, though. “I can’t promise anything on it just because it exists in Mirage, but it doesn’t exist in the modern Anvil. So, it’s like new tech, right? They do have a solution. We do roughly see how it works, but it’s going to take time to understand if it’s something we can build or how long it would take.”

But there’s a chance it could happen because of Knight’s experience on the Hitman franchise. “You know, personally, as someone who used to work on Hitman and has played a lot of Hitman and likes seeing the speedrun timer on screen, I think it’s a very interesting way to play a game. But, yeah, no promises on that one.”

Ubisoft Singapore is currently taking its time to put together a roadmap for Resynced, though an ETA on New Game Plus and other changes has yet to be revealed. In the meantime, it’s still well enough for Ubisoft, with over 3.5 million sales in two weeks, which “exceeded annual expectations.” If that doesn’t provide the impetus for DLC or further support, we don’t know what will.

In the meantime, check out our thoughts on Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced – we scored it a 9 out of 10 in our review. It’s available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Guillemot pointed to the PC market, where physical releases of games are essentially non-existent outside of rare releases, and noted that it helped growth on the platform. He also brought up the costs associated with the production of discs and the creation of hardware like disc drives. Overall, however, he doesn’t think that the market will be affected too badly.

“What we saw on the PC is that it helped to grow the market,” Guillemot said. “There’s also some pressure for the future on the cost of machines, and being able to be only digital will help to have more accessible machines, I would say. There are pluses and minuses, but we think it will not disturb the industry too much.”

While PC as a gaming platform has been dominated by digital releases for over a decade at this point, it is also worth considering that it is an open platform, leaving the door open for potential market disruption from new players. Thanks to this, companies like Limited Run Games are able to collaborate with indie studios to create special edition physical releases for the platform through portable storage drives. Consoles, on the other hand, are closed platforms, with their respective manufacturers keeping tight control over the software developed and released on their hardware.

Recently, an analysis of the used games market indicated that it was worth $7.2 billion, and would be worth up to $13.8 billion by 2034. This market could be heavily impacted by Sony’s decision. Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities said that while there were likely cost-saving factors for the decision, “there can be no question that the consumer pays the tax in terms of less optionality.” F-Squared’s Michael Fuffter went as far as to call it “an extremely anti-consumer decision” that “has no legitimate justification and communicates a disdain for players in their ecosystem.”

“Sony would love for us to believe that the PC market’s shift to digital is the exact same thing as consoles going down that path. It simply isn’t.”

Sony’s announcement has also drawn sharp criticism from the UK’s Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), with CEO Kim Bayley saying that the company is valuing “corporate convenience over consumer choice.”

“Every year, millions of gamers still choose to buy physical copies because they value true ownership. A disc can be shared with family, traded in, collected, preserved, and crucially, still played years from now. A download licence often offers none of those freedoms.”

Bayley went on to say that “removing discs doesn’t represent progress – it simply removes choice,” calling the decision generally bad for not only retailers, but for consumers as well.

For more, take a look at our thoughts on the matter.

This guide for Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag Resynced is a complete listing of the locations of all intact Treasure Maps, as well as their associated Treasure Chests.

Blackbeard’s Treasure Map

Granted automatically after completion of the “Do Not Go Gently…” quest.
The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Anotto Bay in Charlotte, 591,243.

Map Of Shipwreck

Lying atop a crate on a pier during the “Smelly Sailors” Local Event at Havana in Dry Tortuga, 226,573.

The pair of Underwater Chests are located in Dry Tortuga as well, 357,700.

• Guardian Beast Trinket
• 1,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Abaco Island

Loot from a skeleton propped up beneath a palm tree on Abaco Island in Eleuthera, 580,804.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Salt Lagoon in Gibara, 719,607.

• Serpent Figurehead
• 3,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Ambergris Key

Loot from a skeleton lying within the tunnel system at Ambergris Key in Chinchorro, 27,159.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Misteriosa, 271,178.

• Heavy Shot Strength Ultimate Plan
• 3,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Andreas Island

Loot from a skeleton lying beneath twin palm trees near a shipwreck on Andreas Island in Eleuthera, 543,693.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located on Abaco Island in Eleuthera, 586,811.

• Earth Monster Relief
• 2,500 Reales

Treasure Map – Cape Bonavista

Loot from a skeleton lying within a small cave at Cape Bonavista in Dry Tortuga, 160,580.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located in a shallow pool at Cape Bonavista as well, 146,587.

• 1,500 Reales

Treasure Map – Cayman Sound

Loot from a skeleton lying amidst rocks on the shoreline of north-west Cayman Sound in Castillo de Jagua, 297,314.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Petite Caverne, 863,235.

• Heavy Shot Storage Ultimate Plan
• 3,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Corozal

Loot from a skeleton propped up next to a campfire on a tiny island at Corozal in Chinchorro, 12,242.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Ambergris Key, 30,157.

• Pirate Captain Outfit
• 2,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Cumberland Bay

Loot from a skeleton amongst a tangle of low-slung palm trees along the shoreline of southern Cumberland Bay in Punta Guarico, 648,345.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located on Pinos Isle, 304,455.

• Ivory Wheel Design Plan
• 3,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Great Inagua

Loot from a skeleton within a cave with a south-facing entryway at Great Inagua in Gibara, 813,447.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Nassau, 586,755.

• Elite Sails Design Plan
• 3,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Havana

Loot from a skeleton lying at the bottom of the canal at Havana in Dry Tortuga, 217,571.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Havana as well, 213,564.

• The Queen Anne’s Figurehead Design Plan
• 3,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Havana Warehouse

Within the Havana Warehouse at Havana in Dry Tortuga, 205,600.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Anotto Bay, 590,245.

• Crimson Cloak
• 2,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Ile A Vache

Loot from a skeleton lying along the shoreline in north-east Ile a Vache in Navassa, 812,113.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Jiguey, 534,510.

• Baroque Guitar
• 2,500 Reales

Treasure Map – Isla Providencia

Loot from a skeleton lying in a pool of light in eastern Isla Providencia in Serranilla, 483,18.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Long Bay, 503,230.

• Rare Cutlass: Scottish Broadswords

Treasure Map – Kingston Warehouse

Within the Kingston Warehouse at Kingston in Navassa, 605,156.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Cumberland Bay, 645,355.

• 4,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Mariguana Island

Loot from a skeleton propped up within a tiny cave on Mariguana Island in Gibara, 848,514.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located on Andreas Island, 544,693.

• Harpoon Strength Ultimate Plan
• 3,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Misteriosa

Loot from a skeleton lying on the outer ledges within the Mayan ruins at Misteriosa in Serranilla, 272,175.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Kingston, 631,152.

• Gilded Hull Design Plan
• 3,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Nassau Warehouse

Within the Nassau Warehouse at Nassau in Eleuthera, 594,749.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Isla Providencia, 487,11.

• Governor’s Outfit
• 2,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Petite Caverne

Loot from a skeleton propped up within a massive cave at Petite Caverne in Punta Guarico, 863,237.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Tulum, 40,372.

• Fire Barrel Storage Ultimate Plan
• 3,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Pinos Isle

Loot from a skeleton propped up against a toppled pillar on Pinos Isle in Castillo de Jagua, 308,456.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located amongst a tangle of low-slung palm trees at Cayman Sound, 304,310.

• 4,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Port Royal

Loot from a skeleton lying atop a grave near the gallows at Port Royal in Navassa, 605,132.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Principe, 113,11.

• Standard Bearer
• 2,500 Reales

Treasure Map – Portraits

Granted automatically after collecting and placing all 11 Portraits in the Manor at Great Inagua.

• Blackbeard’s Portrait
• Stede Bonnet’s Portrait
• Commodore Chamberlaine’s Portrait
• Julien Du Casse’s Portrait
• Ben Hornigold’s Portrait
• Robert Maynard’s Portrait
• Laurens Prins’ Portrait
• Bartholomew Roberts’ Portrait
• Woodes Rogers’ Portrait
• El Tiburon’s Portrait
• Laureano de Torres’ Portrait

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Principe, 820,430.

• The Fortune Legendary Cutlass

Treasure Map – Salt Lagoon

Loot from a skeleton lying near a wrecked rowboat along the shoreline at Salt Lagoon in Gibara, 724,608

The Buried Treasure Chest is located on a tiny island at New Bone, 407,94.

• Maize Deity
• 2,500 Reales

Treasure Map – Santanillas

Loot from a skeleton lying atop a rock slab on east Santanillas in Chinchorro, 190,217.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at San Juan, 455,462.

• Fire Barrel Strength Ultimate Plan
• 3,000 Reales

Treasure Map – Tortuga

Loot from a skeleton beside a single low-slung palm tree along the shoreline in north-east Tortuga in Punta Guarico, 852,352.

The Buried Treasure Chest is located at Matanzas, 312,617.

• Mortar Storage Ultimate Plan
• 3,000 Reales

Those are all of the full Treasure Maps to be found scattered across Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag Resynced.