Next Assassin's Creed makes jump to American Revolutionary War setting

When Assassin's Creed III hits store shelves on October 30, 2012, players may be surprised to find the series making the jump from its traditional setting of Renaissance Europe to Revolutionary War-era America.

Ubisoft has uploaded the box art for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC versions of the anticipated sequel on the game's Facebook page, showing a hooded assassin with his hands at the throat of a prone, red-coated British soldier. In the background, two lines of colonial-era soldiers brandish muskets towards each other, one side carrying an American flag with 13 stars in a circle.

The box art reveal follows a leak of promotional images for the game, which Kotaku obtained from a purported Best Buy employee showing an Assassin standing in front of the colonial flag. The image release also follows months of rumor and speculation that the game would be set in a new, "historical" locale.

Game Informer has also revealed that a similar promotional image will appear on the cover of its April issue, and confirms that the game is "set in the latter half of the 18th century," where "the war between the Templars and the Assassins escalates as it crosses over to the New World of America, and witness firsthand the events of the American Revolution."

Ubisoft promised more details about Assassin's Creed III will be revealed on Monday.