Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Update 1.0.8: New Game+, Nightmare Mode, Release Time in CT and Full Patch Notes

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is getting its last big update tomorrow morning, and it is the one people have been asking for since July. Title Update 1.0.8 adds New Game+, a punishing Nightmare Mode, a set of hidden community chests, the classic takedown animations from the 2013 original and a fresh batch of cosmetics. After this, Ubisoft says the remake moves to smaller quality of life patches only.

I put a lot of hours into Resynced over the summer and finished my first save with a fully upgraded Jackdaw and nothing left to spend Reales on. That is exactly the player this patch is built for. Below is everything in the official notes, what carries over into New Game+ and what does not, how Nightmare Mode actually changes fights, and a few tips for setting up your next run. All details come from the official 1.0.8 patch notes on Steam and the Ubisoft News article on the update.

When Update 1.0.8 Goes Live

Ubisoft posted the patch notes on Monday, October 26, and stated the release time directly: October 27 at 14:00 UTC / 10:00 AM ET / 7:00 AM PT on all platforms. Converted for the US middle of the country:

• Central Time (CT): Tuesday, October 27 at 9:00 AM
• Pacific Time (PT): Tuesday, October 27 at 7:00 AM
• Eastern Time (ET): Tuesday, October 27 at 10:00 AM
• UTC: Tuesday, October 27 at 14:00
• London: Tuesday, October 27 at 2:00 PM

Daylight saving time in the US does not end until November 1, so these are still summer clock times.

You may have seen the Ubisoft News post describe the update as "live now." That article went up a day ahead of the patch itself. The Steam announcement is the one with the timestamp, and it says tomorrow. If you boot up Monday evening and see no New Game+ option, nothing is wrong with your save.

This timing was teased last week. On October 22 the official Assassin's Creed account posted "Thank you for your patience everyone. New Game+ is coming to Black Flag Resynced next week!" and on October 26 a short roadmap post on Steam confirmed the update for Tuesday, with Head of Content Jean Guesdon sharing a broader franchise update on Thursday, October 29. Ubisoft was careful to say that Thursday's update will not include any major reveals, so do not expect a new game announcement.

Patch Size by Platform

Ubisoft listed these download sizes:

• Xbox Series X|S: 15.5 GB
• PlayStation 5: 4.5 GB
• PC: 4.3 GB (Ubisoft lists Steam separately)
• Steam: 2.1 GB

The Xbox number is a lot bigger than the rest, which is common with how Xbox packages patches. Clear some room the night before if your Series S is tight on storage, because a 15.5 GB patch on the 512 GB model can mean deleting something.

New Game+: What Carries Over and What Resets

New Game+ restarts the story from the beginning while letting Edward keep most of what he earned. Here is the breakdown straight from the patch notes.

The Ubisoft News version of the notes adds one detail worth knowing: although your Jackdaw and Hideout upgrades stay in place, you regain access to each of them through story progression. So you do not get the Jackdaw on minute one of a new run. You play through the opening as usual, and once the story hands you the ship, it shows up with everything you already built.

Five tiers of escalating difficulty

New Game+ goes all the way to New Game+++++, five repeat playthroughs in total. Each tier adds another difficulty modifier. The notes call out two specifics:

• Elite Soldiers appear more often on land.
• Max rank ships start patrolling the waters, so the early sailing routes that were safe on your first run will not be.

That second point matters more than it sounds. On a first playthrough the low level waters near the starting islands are a place to farm easy boarding targets. With max rank ships in the mix, your early game naval routes become a real threat even with a maxed Jackdaw, especially once you stack tiers.

Escudos: the new New Game+ currency

There is a new currency exclusive to New Game+ called Escudos. You earn them three ways:

• Completing challenges during an NG+ run
• Looting chests you already opened on a previous playthrough
• Exchanging Reales for Escudos at the General Store

Escudos buy new outfits and items that are exclusive to New Game+. Ubisoft is explicit that nothing already sold for Reales is moving behind the new currency. Anything you could buy with Reales before stays at the same vendor for the same price.

The Reales exchange is the useful part for anyone who finished the game sitting on a mountain of cash with nothing to spend it on. Since money carries into NG+, you can convert some of that pile into Escudos right away instead of grinding chests again.

Nightmare Mode: Every Change in the Notes

Nightmare Mode is a new difficulty level that hits all four pillars of the game. GamingBolt noted that the mode first appeared in Assassin's Creed Shadows, but the naval and underwater parts are new for Black Flag. According to Ubisoft, you can switch it on regardless of story progress, and you can set combat, stealth, naval and activity difficulty independently. If you want brutal sword fights with forgiving stealth, that is allowed.

Ground combat

• Enemies deal 1.8x damage.
• Parry timing is reduced.
• No more white glint on enemy attacks.
• Ranged enemies shoot more often.
• The one-shot kill safety is disabled.

Ubisoft flagged that last one as the most impactful change, and it is. On normal difficulties the game will not let a single hit take you from a healthy bar to dead. In Nightmare, a musket volley or a powder keg can end Edward instantly no matter how much health you have. Combined with the missing glint, you will be reading animations rather than waiting for a visual cue.

My advice: build around avoiding ranged damage first. Clear riflemen and anyone near explosives before committing to a brawl, use smoke and sleep darts more aggressively than you did on your first run, and stop treating counters as a free win. The tighter window is noticeable after a full playthrough of muscle memory on the normal timing.

Stealth

• Detection time greatly reduced.
• Investigation time extended.
• Enemies can hear you when you move faster than a walk.
• High spots need more height: Edward must be at least 6 meters above an enemy to stay hidden, up from 4 meters.

The 6 meter rule changes some of the classic hiding spots. Low rooftops and short walls that used to be perfect perches will now get you spotted. Sound detection is the other trap. Jogging up behind a guard for an assassination is no longer safe, so you will be walking far more often.

Naval

• All ship damage is increased.

That is a single line, but it stacks with the max rank ship patrols in NG+. If you plan to run Nightmare naval on a high New Game+ tier, expect sea fights to feel very different from the cruise they were at the end of your first save.

Activities

• Underwater sharks deal more damage.
• Urchin and jellyfish damage is doubled.
• The oxygen meter depletes faster.
• All harpooning wildlife deals more damage.

Diving bell sections were already the least favorite part of Black Flag for plenty of players. Faster oxygen loss plus doubled hazard damage means you need to plan routes between air pockets instead of improvising.

Hidden Community Chests

Update 1.0.8 adds new hidden community chests, some carrying special community requested rewards. Ubisoft is deliberately not giving hints this time, describing them as more challenging than earlier hidden chests. The Ubisoft News post puts the number at six new hidden community chests spread across the map.

Since there are no clues in the notes, expect the community to map these out within the first few days. If you like doing it yourself, the safest approach is to look in places the base game never fully used, like wrecks, coves and island interiors you skipped on your first run.

Classic Takedowns and New Cosmetics

Two smaller additions round out the content side:

• Returning takedowns: animations from the original 2013 game are back, including hidden blade, unarmed, single sword and gunblade takedowns. Ubisoft News adds that there are new takedown, microkill and double takedown variations across weapon types. They trigger randomly in play and cannot be assigned manually.
• New cosmetics: outfits, pet skins, trinkets, sails and crew customization options. Most are tied to New Game+ progression, with others found through exploration, activities and hidden challenges.

The takedown change is a small thing that long time fans noticed at launch. Seeing the gunblade animations again makes a second run feel closer to the version a lot of us played in 2013.

Bug Fixes and Quality of Life Changes

The fix list is long. These are the ones most likely to affect you.

General

• Fixed being unable to launch the game in Offline Mode if the connection to servers dropped while playing.
• Increased the number of Rogue Waves during storms.
• Fixed Deluxe Edition owners not seeing the Blackbeard items marked as Owned in the Exchange.
• Fixed being able to fast travel to unsynchronized viewpoints in Havana and Long Bay.
• Fixed a freeze while playing Nine-Man Morris, Checkers or Fanorona at a tavern.
• Fixed the camera field of view staying permanently altered indoors after Delirium.
• Fixed pistol customization not showing on the pistols on Edward's hips.
• Fixed the Merlion trinket healing effect staying active after quitting to memories.

Gameplay, world and UI

• Fixed Edward getting stuck aiming if hit while in corner cover with a smoke bomb.
• Fixed being unable to assassinate sleeping enemies that collapsed onto a bush hiding spot.
• Fixed being unable to raise travel sails after certain quests.
• Fixed the chest icon staying visible after clearing the San Ignacio wreck.
• Fixed the wrong location for the Capuchin Monkey Codex entry.
• Fixed the world map graying out and locking controls.
• Fixed the Jackdaw looking damaged after being repaired.

Audio and controls

• Fixed muffled gunshots after leaving the inventory with the Blades of the Damned perk active.
• Fixed some silent gunshot sounds.
• Fixed keyboard and mouse players being unable to dive if they changed Walk from Hold to Toggle.

Quest fixes (light spoilers)

The patch fixes soft locks and progression blockers in a dozen quests, including This Tyro Captain, The Traveling Salesman, We Demand a Parley, Commodore Eighty-Sixed, Captain Stede Bonnet, A World Without Gold: Not Even a Real Captain, Officer Quest: The One with the Gun, Templar Hunt: Anto, Under Attack, Templar Hunt: Rhona, A Thief in the Market, the Realities of War and Hunter Gatherer naval contracts, and Rift: Edward's Memories. If you shelved a save because one of these broke, this is the time to go back.

How to Set Up a New Game+ Run

A few things I would do before and right after the patch lands:

• Finish what you care about on your current save first. Story progress, quests and forts reset in NG+. If you are chasing a specific completion state on your main save, wrap it up before starting a new cycle.
• Hold on to your Reales. Money carries over and can be exchanged for Escudos at the General Store. A fat wallet now is a head start on the NG+ exclusive outfits.
• Decide your Nightmare split. Because each category is separate, a sensible first NG+ setup is Nightmare combat with normal naval, then turn naval up once you have your crew back. Max rank patrols plus boosted ship damage early on is rough.
• Expect to rebuild the crew. Officer abilities stay unlocked, but the officers themselves have to be recruited again before the Jackdaw feels whole.
• Re-take forts in order. Fog and forts reset, so the same sequence that worked on your first run is still the cleanest way to open the map.

Where This Leaves Black Flag Resynced

Resynced launched on July 9, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and by most measures it has been a hit. GamingBolt and other outlets reported more than 3.5 million copies sold in its first two weeks, and the remake currently sells for $59.99 on Steam. Calling 1.0.8 the final major content update means this is the version of the game most people will play from here on: full story, New Game+, Nightmare and the restored takedowns, with smaller fixes still on the way.

What it does not include is any story DLC. The original Freedom Cry expansion is not part of Resynced, and Ubisoft has not announced plans to add it. If Thursday's franchise update from Jean Guesdon touches on Black Flag at all, it will be the first official word on that front, but Ubisoft already said not to expect major reveals.

For a pirate game that was always better on the second voyage, New Game+ and Nightmare Mode are the right final send off. If you finished your first run and drifted away, tomorrow morning is a good excuse to raise the black flag again.

Frequently Asked Questions

What time does Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced update 1.0.8 release?

Update 1.0.8 releases on Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 14:00 UTC, which is 9:00 AM Central Time, 10:00 AM Eastern and 7:00 AM Pacific. Ubisoft says it arrives at the same time on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

How big is the Black Flag Resynced 1.0.8 patch?

Ubisoft lists 15.5 GB on Xbox Series X|S, 4.5 GB on PlayStation 5, 4.3 GB on PC and 2.1 GB on Steam (listed separately). Xbox players should check free space before the release, especially on a Series S.

What carries over into New Game+ in Black Flag Resynced?

Edward's tools, upgrades, weapons and trinkets, all Jackdaw upgrades, unlocked officer abilities and pets, money, materials and trade goods, outfits, Hideout progression and art collection, all Kenway Fleet ships, Codex items including treasure maps, and store purchases carry over. Story progress, active quests, quest items, forts and map discovery reset, and officers have to be recruited again.

How many New Game+ levels are there in Black Flag Resynced?

You can go up to New Game+++++, five New Game+ playthroughs in total. Each tier adds another difficulty modifier, with Elite Soldiers appearing more often and max rank ships patrolling the seas.

What are Escudos in Black Flag Resynced?

Escudos are a new currency exclusive to New Game+. You earn them by completing challenges and looting chests you already opened on an earlier playthrough, or by exchanging Reales at the General Store. They buy outfits and items that are only available in New Game+, while everything previously sold for Reales keeps its old price.

What does Nightmare Mode change in Black Flag Resynced?

Enemies deal 1.8x damage, parry windows are tighter, attack glints are removed, ranged enemies fire more often and one-shot protection is disabled. Stealth detection is much faster, enemies hear you when you move faster than a walk and you need to be 6 meters above enemies to stay hidden. Ship damage, shark damage and urchin and jellyfish damage all go up, and oxygen drains faster.

Can I use Nightmare Mode only for combat in Black Flag Resynced?

Yes. Ubisoft says Nightmare Mode can be enabled at any point in the story and set independently for combat, stealth, naval and activity difficulty, so you can mix it with easier settings in the categories you prefer.

Is update 1.0.8 the last update for Black Flag Resynced?

It is the final major content update. Ubisoft says the team will continue releasing smaller quality of life updates over the coming months, but no further big content drops are planned. Story DLC such as Freedom Cry has not been announced.