Patrice Désilets, co-creator of Assassin’s Creed, reannounced his new game 1666: Amsterdam during Summer Game Fest 2026 on the evening of June 6. He released a free 30-minute playable prologue demo for PC players on Steam and Epic Games Store, offering an introduction to the game’s world, characters, and timelines [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].

1666: Amsterdam is a dark, story-driven third-person action-adventure game set mostly in the year 1666. Players control Noa, a Collector who uses witchcraft to search for demonic entities in a richly detailed Amsterdam. The game features three timelines: roughly 80% of gameplay occurs in 1666; about 15% takes place in 1999, where players control Aaron, a man who experiences the world through the eyes of a cat; and 5% happens in present day, with Clio exploring a library [1, 2, 3, 4]. Désilets emphasized the unique gameplay element of playing as a cat, saying "The main thing, and it's very important, is... you play as a cat!" [3].

Development on 1666: Amsterdam began in 2011 at THQ Montreal but was halted after THQ’s 2012 bankruptcy. Ubisoft acquired the studio and the game’s intellectual property, which led to Désilets leaving Ubisoft and losing access to the project. He founded Panache Digital Games in 2014 and fought a legal battle to regain full rights to the game, which he won in 2016, allowing development to resume [2, 4, 5].

Currently, the game is being developed by a team of nearly 70 staff based in Montreal. Désilets expressed pride in the team and the game’s progress, stating, "It's been a long time coming, and I couldn’t be prouder of our team of nearly 70 talented developers in Montreal" [1, 2, 3, 4].

The free prologue demo gives players a taste of the nine-course experience planned for the full release. Désilets said, "The free prologue available now on Steam and Epic Games Store is only a small taste of what’s to come, an amuse-bouche before a nine-course dinner... We hope players will enjoy discovering it as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it" [2].

The full game is expected to launch on PC in early access in 2026, with console versions to follow later the same year [2, 4].