First details of pirate-themed Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag

The next Assassin's Creed game will star a pirate assassin and be set in the early 18th century Caribbean, a slew of leaks suggest. It will be named Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag.

Leaked artwork posted by Kotaku showed a new hooded assassin taking on a ship full of salty sea dogs, armed with a pistol and dagger. A black skull-and-crossbones flag hangs behind him.

That assassin is Edward Kenway, father of Haytham Kenway and grandfather of Connor from Assassin's Creed 3, according to The Examiner. He's a privateer, assassin and occasional pirate.

The leaked artwork - a poster sent out to retailers - has a detailed map of the Caribbean on its reverse, presumably showing the islands and towns that Kenway will visit.

Havana, Kingston and the southern tip of Florida are all named, many of which have a new 'skull-and-Assassin's Creed' symbol icon, presumably the sign of the Brotherhood in this era.

A leaked screenshot is also doing the rounds, supposedly of the game running on Xbox 360. There are plans for a next-gen console version, too.

News of the nautical-themed adventure fits with what Ubisoft has said officially about the next game - that it stars a new protagonist and new setting.

It also backs up a number of Reddit leaks we've had our eyes on for some time. One posted claimed to have spotted the name "Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flags" in a Ubisoft exec's marketing materials while travelling next to the employee.

"I was on a flight where the lady in the row in front of me was working on a PowerPoint presentation on marketing strategies of several gaming titles," the anonymous poster wrote earlier this month.

"And one that stood out the most was AC4: Black Flags, aimed for release 2013 Holiday season according to her slide. It already had a cool looking logo for it."

An earlier report from over a month ago came after someone overheard to advertising designers discussing "a new piece of AC3 DLC, titled Black Flag, that will focus more deeply on naval combat".

Black Flag will almost certainly feature more of AC3's naval battles, which were of the best bits of the game. Another highpoint of AC3 was Haytham Kenway himself - Connor's father. It's a safe bet he'll be popping up too.

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is due to launch sometime in the coming financial year, but we'd be amazed if it arrived any other time than November.