How the Reverse: 1999 team adapted for an Assassin’s Creed collab

• Reverse: 1999 developer Bluepoch teamed up with Ubisoft for an Assassin's Creed crossover in two phases.
• The Assassin’s Creed franchise has sold more than 230 million units globally.

As time travel RPG Reverse: 1999 draws closer to its second global anniversary, Chinese developer Bluepoch has spent the past six weeks featuring its first crossover with another game IP.

A collaboration with Ubisoft saw content inspired by Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey land in-game, including playable protagonist Ezio and multiple story arcs.

It marked the first time Reverse: 1999’s Chinese and global versions have been synchronised, with the former typically some months ahead in updates and new characters. The update also took the game’s narrative outside of the 20th century for the first time.

To explore how Bluepoch came to work with the world-renowned Assassin’s Creed franchise and how the developer integrated characters like Ezio, Kassandra and Alexios into Reverse: 1999’s gameplay style and world, we speak with the dev team, who ask to remain anonymous.

"This collaboration came about naturally from the way our two game worlds align," says the developer. "Both Reverse: 1999 and Assassin's Creed explore history in unique ways. Assassin's Creed's historical settings and mystical elements complement Reverse: 1999's own game world."

Breaking all the rules?

Reverse: 1999 teased the collaboration with Assassin’s Creed this January. The first phase went live on August 7th, 2025 with the debut of Ezio in its gacha and a new story event set in 15th century Renaissance Florence.

This introduced Reverse: 1999 protagonist Vertin and friends to the world of Assassin’s Creed II, and broke away from the game’s 20th century identity. It also bolstered daily player spending on Google Play and the App Store by 1,021% on update day, up to $744,000 by AppMagic estimates. The game has made an estimated $134.9 million on mobile to date.

The second phase of the collab, which launched on August 28th and concluded on September 19th, took characters even further back to ancient Greece.

Players have previously travelled to events like the Wall Street crash through the in-game phenomenon called "the Storm" and have encountered characters like soviet pilot Lilya and 1960s pirate radio host Regulus.

In our last interview, the team attributed part of Reverse: 1999’s success to such "unconventional characters".

Until this collaboration, time travel has always kept within the 20th century. The game opens by travelling back from New Year’s Eve, 1999. Now that travelling even further back is in the cards, we ask whether this Assassin’s Creed crossover actually fits with Reverse: 1999's lore and branding.

The team confirms time travel in these Assassin’s Creed events was not attributed to the Storm: "This Assassin's Creed collaboration does not rely on the Storm to travel through time as the main story does.

"By using the Stage in the Rain setting, we stay within our existing worldbuilding while allowing Reverse: 1999 characters to explore Renaissance Florence and ancient Greece during the Dionysia - both events rich in history and full of Assassin's Creed's unique atmosphere."

This new form of time travel also keeps the door open to future events set in various time periods, as the team teases "more hidden stories and secrets are sure to appear" in the future. Meanwhile, the main storyline continues to explore what exactly the Storm is.

The creed of collaboration

Last year, Bluepoch worked with Discovery to bring new outfits to Reverse: 1999 themed around Celtic mythology and Egyptian culture, applied to pre-established characters. The focus was mainly on garment designs and aimed to bring "real-world landscapes and cultural history" to the game.

As for the Assassin’s Creed crossover, the team aimed for a "deeper connection", crossing boundaries between game worlds and showing characters from both franchises into the same timeline.

"We believe this collaboration brings something new and exciting for fans of both games."

This meant reinterpreting characters like Ezio, Kassandra and Alexios in a way that blends with Reverse: 1999’s world while maintaining a strong respect for their original forms. In terms of art design, this resulted in Ezio keeping his classic hood and hidden blade outfit, as well as his iconic Altaïr outfit, but reimagined with Reverse: 1999’s colour palette and art style to fit the in-game world.

Meanwhile, designing appropriate skills required the team to study the Assassin’s Creed games and hold "many rounds of discussion", adapting elements of Ubisoft’s real-time action brand into Reverse: 1999’s turn-based system.

"During the entire process, we worked closely with the Ubisoft team, adjusting every detail through constant feedback. We are truly thankful for their trust and support throughout this collaboration.

"In the end, Ezio received a primary and secondary weapon system, while Kassandra and Alexios kept their skill tree systems. Through this, we hope players can sense the respect and appreciation we have for the original games."

Over the course of the event, players were able to obtain Ezio and Kassandra as playable characters through the in-game gacha. Alexios was available as a log-in reward with full portraits available through participation in an in-game event.

This meant all players could guarantee unlocking at least one of the three crossover characters by engaging with the game.

Now, the crossover has wrapped up just one month before the global version’s second anniversary. The Reverse: 1999 team teases "many paths to take and countless moments to discover" ahead, but "won’t reveal too much" yet.

"The journey ahead may be difficult, but it holds great promise. We will keep working hard to create more high-quality content in the future."

Learn more about the Asia games market at the Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Korea on October 31st, 2025.