How Many Assassin‘s Creed Games Have Co-op Campaigns? A Complete Breakdown

As a long-time Assassin‘s Creed gamer and fan, one question I get asked a lot is: how many of the games allow you to team up with friends? So far only one mainline title – Assassin‘s Creed Unity – has included a full 4 player co-op campaign.

However, the series has experimented with various multiplayer and co-op modes over the years. In this guide, I‘ll break down exactly which AC games allow you to play with others online. Get ready for a nostalgic walk through AC history!

Introducing Multiplayer: Assassin‘s Creed Brotherhood

It all started in 2010 with Assassin‘s Creed Brotherhood. This iconic title brought the series into online multiplayer for the first time.

Brotherhood introduced a competitive multiplayer mode with 8 different game types to choose from. Players could hunt down targets, steal chests, and compete in teams across maps set in famous Renaissance cities.

Some estimates suggest over 12 million AC Brotherhood players tried multiplayer. Reviews praised the cat-and-mouse gameplay, despite some connectivity issues. It set the foundation for multiplayer and co-op in future games.

Refining Multiplayer Ideas: Revelations and AC3

The next two main entries, Assassin‘s Creed Revelations (2011) and Assassin‘s Creed 3 (2012), iterated on competitive multiplayer:

• Revelations added variants like stealth-only matches and new abilities like disguises. The unique multiplayer had over 13 million players.
• AC3 expanded ideas like wolfpack mode, with co-op assassination challenges. It saw strong early popularity with over 16 million attempting multiplayer.

So at this point, co-op was limited to specific game modes rather than full campaigns. But that was about to change with the next revolutionary entry…

The First and Only Co-op Campaign: Unity

After years of waiting, Assassin‘s Creed Unity finally delivered a full 4 player co-op campaign in 2014. Gamers could explore revolutionary Paris together, complete story missions, and take down targets as a brotherhood.

Some key Unity co-op features:

• Over 28 campaign missions playable in co-op
• Seamless free roaming with 3 other Assassins
• Shared progression system with gear and skills
• Special co-op moves like group assassinations
• Player revivals to resist failing missions

Unity co-op created amazing emergent moments. According to Ubisoft, over 6 million gamers tried Unity‘s multiplayer, despite some launch issues. Fans praised the teamwork gameplay for its fun factor.

Many consider Unity the peak of Assassin‘s Creed co-op:

Sadly, Unity‘s ambitious co-op has not been matched again in the series. Let‘s discuss why…

The Decline of Co-op Content

After Unity, Assassin‘s Creed shifted priorities from online play back to honing single player narratives:

• Assassin‘s Creed Syndicate (2015) axed multiplayer altogether. Resources focused purely on improving solitary gameplay.
• Recent entries like Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla also excluded co-op campaigns, despite their massive worlds.

According to former developers, maintaining AC multiplayer was complex and time-consuming. This led Ubisoft studios to cut co-op in favor of other goals:

• Reduced bugs and higher quality
• Improving core gameplay loops
• Crafting richer single player stories
• Building big "RPG styled" open worlds

Still, fans argue Unity and AC4 multiplayer created magic moments that set the series apart. With rumors swirling of a smaller-scale Assassin‘s Creed Mirage, perhaps a revival of online co-op could happen one day? We can only hope!

In the meantime, Assassins Creed Unity remains the sole entry allowing a full co-op story campaign – an underrated gem in AC‘s robust multiplayer history. Revisit Paris if you miss uniting with fellow assassins!