Assassin's Creed Mirage artwork surfaces online
UPDATE: Ubisoft officially confirms.
UPDATE 5pm UK: Following this morning's leak, Ubisoft has now confirmed Assassin's Creed Mirage as the next title in its historical stabathon series.
Official artwork for Mirage shows, as expected, Valhalla character Basim in his younger days. This is the smaller, stealth-focused game which has been widely-reported on over the past few months.
Eurogamer reported earlier this year that Mirage would be set in Baghdad. As previously announced by Ubisoft, the future of Assassin's Creed - presumably including its next big chapter Infinity - will be detailed next weekend during the publisher's Ubisoft Forward livestream.
ORIGINAL STORY 11am UK: Promotional artwork for the still-unannounced Assassin's Creed Mirage has popped up online, apparently from Ubisoft's own store.
The image, shared on Twitter by Assassin's Creed fansite The Codex Network, appears to be for some kind of bonus quest. It shows a hooded Assassin hero armed with the series' iconic hidden blade weapon, facing down the silhouette of an enemy with a curved sword. [UPDATE: The images in that tweet have now been removed due to a copyright claim.]
Setting a story mission around the famous fable of The Forty Thieves would mirror other such bonus quests offered by Ubisoft in the past, such as a Beowulf-themed story for Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
We're expecting an official reveal for Assassin's Creed Mirage in the near future, at this month's Ubisoft Forward event on Saturday, 10th September.
Already, however, various leaks have sprung details of Mirage all over the internet. We've known for some time that this game will be a smaller-scale and stealth-focused entry akin to Assassin's Creed's origins. (And not to Assassin's Creed Oranges, which set the franchise on its more recent RPG path.)
Eurogamer first reported earlier this year that Mirage would be set in Baghdad, and chronicle the earlier adventures of Valhalla character Basim.
If you've completed Valhalla, you'll know Basim is a very important character - hopefully we'll hear more about all that in Mirage as well.