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Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Director Reveals Why Ubisoft Ditched Edward’s Hidden Blade Combat
Richard Knight, director of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, has explained why protagonist Edward Kenway lost several signature combat moves from the original game in Ubisoft's remake, including the hidden blade's varied kill animations and its extensive throwing weapon options. Knight said the studio focused development effort on rebuilding core combat mechanics rather than reinvesting in the wide array of weapon-based finishing moves, since these were judged a lower priority given the resources needed to recreate them with modern character rigs and animations.
Speaking to YouTuber JorRaptor, Knight said Edward already had "ten ways to kill somebody" and that reworking features like throwing weapons from scratch was costly relative to their value, so the team prioritised nailing the fundamentals instead, such as new enemy health and defence bars that replace the original's counter chain-kill system. He added that Ubisoft is not ruling out reinstating the missing features and is monitoring community feedback, though no commitments have been made. The remake has proved commercially successful, selling two million copies on its first day and generating $1 million in day-one DLC sales on Steam alone.
In short
- Black Flag Resynced dropped Edward's varied hidden blade and weapon kill animations.
- Director says team prioritised core combat over costly weapon-move rebuilds.
- Ubisoft won't confirm changes but says it's listening to fan feedback.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Ubisoft’s choice can be defended as a practical way to use limited development time: rebuilding the combat fundamentals and modern animation systems may improve the experience players encounter most often. With Edward already having many ways to fight, the studio could reasonably judge that restoring every specialised finish and throwing weapon would cost more than it added, while leaving open the possibility of responding to feedback later.
The case against
Those removed moves were part of what made Edward’s combat distinctive, so their absence may make the remake feel less faithful and varied even if its core systems improve. Players could reasonably expect a remake to preserve recognisable features, and the studio’s resource trade-offs may disappoint those who valued that breadth—especially when the game has achieved strong sales.
Explained simply
Assassin's Creed Black Flag is a 2013 video game set in the Caribbean where players control a pirate named Edward Kenway. The game was one of the most successful entries in the Assassin's Creed series, known for combining naval combat, exploration and stealth-action gameplay.
Ubisoft has released a modernised remake called Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced with improved graphics and redesigned combat systems. The remake removes some combat features that were in the original game, including certain hidden blade finishing moves and throwing weapons.
The hidden blade is central to the Assassin's Creed franchise's identity and combat mechanics. Decisions about which original features to retain in a remake are closely watched by the game's fanbase.