The multinational Ubisoft is not going through its best moment. The company of French origin founded in 1986 can boast a long list of titles and sagas, but the instability of the sector and the development costs of major productions lead to a different reality. Multiple restructurings have led to the loss of more than 1,500 jobs during 2025 and early 2026. More recently, 380 new jobs are also at risk, as Ubisoft has decided to close its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios, and make cuts to its team in the Catalan capital.Specifically, the measures at Ubisoft Barcelona involve the dismissal of 51 developers, which is equivalent to 28% of the total workforce. In response, employees have organized an intermittent strike effective since June 30 to claim rights and ensure their future. Most of the affected workers have been involved in tasks surrounding the Black Flag Resynced project. In fact, the studio has historically collaborated with sagas like The Division or Assassin's Creed itself, but from now on it will focus solely on the Rainbow Six franchise. It should be noted that the Catalan headquarters is a separate entity from Ubisoft Barcelona Mobile, which for now will not suffer any impact from the restructuring of the French giant.
'Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced': the great pirate adventure is brought up to date
The remake of one of the most beloved installments of the saga addresses its weakest points, is technically updated and, above all, adds new sea shanties to sing along to
'Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced'
- Release: July 9Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox SeriesGenre: Action and adventureRating: PEGI 18Development: UbisoftPublishing: Ubisoft
After exploring the winding streets of Baghdad and discovering the harshness of feudal Japan, the new chapter of the popular saga Assassin’s Creed revisits the Caribbean Sea. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag was released in 2013 and became an absolute success with over 15 million units sold worldwide. Its great appeal was the freedom it offered to sail the seas, the pirate setting, and its more rogue tone, which broke with the rigidity of the franchise up to that point. The adventure of Edward Kenway, the pirate protagonist and assassin of British descent, resurfaces with this remake.
The nature of the project makes it clear that it is not a simple facelift, but that the game is a faithful reproduction of the original but completely redone from scratch with the latest version of its internal Anvil engine. In fact, there is a slight local flavor in the production, as the development has been centralized at Ubisoft Singapore, but other studios of the company have collaborated, such as the one in Barcelona, which is currently living under the threat of a restructuring and has started a protest in the form of a strike. This remake, set in the golden age of piracy, arrives on the most graphically powerful platforms starting this Thursday. We review the most outstanding features that the new installment, baptized as Black Flag Resynced, focuses on.
Addressing the weak points of the original
Ubisoft has wanted to emphasize the correction of the most criticized aspects of the original Black Flag, such as, for example, the stealth mechanics, which are central to an assassins' saga. In this remake, the protagonist will finally be able to crouch anywhere, an inexplicable omission from the original. Other frustrating aspects have also been eased to improve the player's quality of life, such as the pacing in tracking or espionage missions, with not very loose checkpoints.
One of the other most reinforced points, mechanically speaking, is combat. It has been redesigned from top to bottom to be a more fluid experience, and a system of dodges or blocks (popularly known as parry) has been added to make sword and pistol encounters more dynamic and require a certain reaction with the controller. As for naval combat, ship improvements and management can now only be done in port, which encourages the player to have a more defined strategic plan before committing acts of piracy in the open sea. Overall, it leads to a more complete experience with better control of the action.
Immersion in cutting-edge waters
Regarding the more technical aspects, one of the great novelties is that its vast open world, rebuilt anew, does not feature any transitions or loading screens. Exploration, whether maritime or terrestrial, through archipelagos or tropical jungles, is completely fluid. Following in the footsteps of the latest installment of the saga, contemporary technologies are also used, with some restrictions depending on the hardware, such as ray tracing, micropolygon rendering, or a more robust dynamic weather system that includes environmental destruction. Waves and storms will not only be a visual spectacle, but will also be another obstacle in the adventure.
Beyond polishing the gameplay and technically updating the title, Black Flag Resynced also adds some new narrative arcs dedicated to beloved supporting characters like Blackbeard or Stede Bonnet. In addition, as part of the main story, three new officers are introduced who become part of the crew of the ship Jackdaw. This release will also include other elements such as a photo mode or the possibility of bringing pets aboard the ship. And of course, most importantly, there will be new sea shanties (traditional sea songs) to belt out at the top of your lungs while sailing the Caribbean waters.
Analysis of ‘Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced’
We liked...
- The visual spectacle and performance of the title. It is a joy to crash against giant waves in the middle of a storm or cross a dense jungle to discover a treasure chest.
- Sing sea shanties between port and port, occasionally sink some ship of the Spanish empire, and rediscover the history of Captain Kenway.
We didn't like it...
- The difficulty adjustments of some sections: infiltration and stealth in general feel too easy, on the other hand, some naval encounters seem impossible without significantly upgrading the ship.
- The need to accumulate materials or obtain very specific ones to unlock some very basic upgrades, feels like a misaligned progression system.
It's for you if...
- Did you like the original Black Flag? The remake strongly respects the gameplay and dispenses with the role-playing elements of the latest installments like Shadows or Valhalla.
- Do you like open-world games and, moreover, do you dislike using fast travel to get around. You'll spend hours searching for treasures among lost islands and smuggler caves.
It's not for you if...
- Do you suffer from thalassophobia, as a large part of the time is spent crossing the ocean by boat, hunting sharks or diving among sunken ships.
- Want a gripping plot and a story with rhythm, the easiest thing in Black Flag is to let yourself be carried away by the wind and forget about the main mission.
[Code provided by Ubisoft and tested on PS5]