Ubisoft spent less than 24 hours backpedaling after a social media post left fans of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced convinced that one of the 2013 original's most memorable moments had been stripped from the remake.
The publisher shared gameplay footage on May 22 labeled as a "drunk loading screen," but the clip showed Edward Kenway walking with perfect balance while the screen tilted around him. That contradiction sparked immediate concern among longtime players who remembered the original game letting players experience a genuinely woozy, stumbling version of the pirate protagonist during a loading sequence fueled by rum.
"I'm sorry man but this is genuinely embarrassing why would you post this," one fan wrote on X. Another observed: "But he's not acting or moving like he's drunk at all."
The backlash was swift enough that Ubisoft felt compelled to clarify its position just one day later. The publisher confirmed that the drunken loading screen concept would indeed make the cut for the remake, with lead producer Justin Ng assuring fans in a follow-up post: "Keep Rum and Carry On."
The clarification matters because the original Black Flag's drunk sequence has lived rent-free in players' memories for over a decade. It was the kind of small, throwaway detail that defined the game's personality and willingness to embrace moment-to-moment weirdness alongside its larger pirate fantasy.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced arrives July 9, 2026, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. The remake is also confirmed to include a no-HUD option and visible blood during combat, addressing other fan concerns about potential sanitization in the remake process.
Author Emily Chen: "Ubisoft's 24-hour scramble to clarify a loading screen tells you everything about how much weight fans place on these small details when a beloved game gets remade."
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