Ubisoft will release Assassin's Creed Liberation, a standalone adventure starring a brand new protagonist, for PlayStation Vita on the same day Assassin's Creed III hits shelves.
The game appears for the first time in the latest issue of Game Informer, details of which have been posted on NeoGaf. Set in New Orleans, Liberation is being developed by Ubisoft Sofia and stars a female, Afro-French assassin named Aveline.
This seems, then, to be a genuine departure from the main series. While Game Informer's preview apparently says that the game features "true Assassin's Creed gameplay," this will be the first game in the series not to feature Desmond. Bad news for Nolan North, then, but a nice change for the rest of us.
Expect more to be revealed during Ubisoft's E3 conference, which you can watch live here on Edge Online and kicks off at 11pm BST tonight.