Assassin's Creed III

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This page is for the original release. For the remastered version, see Assassin's Creed III Remastered.

Assassin's Creed III

Developers
	Ubisoft Montreal
Windows	Ubisoft Ukraine
Publishers
	Ubisoft
	Akella
Engines
	AnvilNext
Release dates
Windows	November 20, 2012
Reception
Metacritic	80
IGDB	81
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Open world, Stealth
Vehicles	Naval/watercraft
Themes	Historical, North America
Series	Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed III is a singleplayer and multiplayer third-person action, open world and stealth game in the Assassin's Creed series.

General information

Online services shut down on October 1, 2022. Some DLC enabled before this date remains accessible.

Steam Community Discussions

Ubisoft Assassin's Creed General Discussion

Ubisoft Community Technical Support

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
Amazon.co.uk (unavailable)		Deluxe Edition also available.
GamersGate (unavailable)		Deluxe Edition was also available.
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)		Deluxe Edition was also available.
Humble Store (unavailable)		Deluxe Edition was also available.
Origin (unavailable)
Steam (unavailable)

All versions require Ubisoft Connect DRM.

Version differences

The Deluxe Edition is a complete edition containing the base game and all DLC.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Season Pass
The Battle Hardened Pack
Benedict Arnold DLC	Deluxe Edition exclusive.
The Hidden Secrets Pack
The Tyranny of King Washington Episode 1 The Infamy
The Tyranny of King Washington Episode 2 The Betrayal
The Tyranny of King Washington Episode 3 The Redemption

DLC need to be manually enabled if the Deluxe Edition comes from a third party store such as the Humble Store.

Enable DLC from the Deluxe Edition[citation needed]
Launch the Uplay client and click on your avatar in the top right corner Click Account Information and then My Games Click Show Key next to Assassin's Creed III Deluxe Edition Launch the game, enter the Extras menu and then type in the key in Redeem Code Restart the game Notes With the servers shut down, it is impossible to enable the DLCs.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Game Launch Intro[citation needed]
Download the Skip Launch Intro archive and extract its contents in the <path-to-game>\Videos\.

New Game Intro[citation needed]
Download the Skip New Game Intro archive and extract its contents in the <path-to-game>\Videos\.

Patches

Patch 1.06 is the latest version; use the manual download link if the Uplay client does not install it automatically.

The patch is not cumulative, all patches must be downloaded and installed separately.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Assassin's Creed III\Assassin3.ini
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/208480/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<Ubisoft-Connect-folder>\savegames\<user-id>\54\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/208480/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Origin
Steam Cloud
Ubisoft Connect

Video

Single player graphical settings.

Multiplayer graphical settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Aspect ratios other than 16:9 are letterboxed. See the WSGF entry.
Multi-monitor			See the WSGF entry.
Ultra-widescreen			Pillarboxed to 16:9. See the WSGF entry.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Use jim2point0's cheat table (requires Cheat Engine).
Windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA (Normal and High settings) and FXAA + 4x MSAA (Very High setting), TXAA (Nvidia only).
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Enabled by default in Singleplayer. See Vertical sync (Vsync).
60 FPS
120+ FPS		No frame rate or refresh rate cap. Running the game above ~80 FPS causes certain game physics to break. Using a forced framerate cap during instances where these physics apply is recommended.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Widescreen resolution

The in-game resolution option may be missing. Resolutions can be set manually.

Set in Assassin3.ini
Go to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Assassin's Creed III\ Open Assassin3.ini. Set DisplayWidth= and DisplayHeight= to the desired resolution.

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Disable Vsync in Singleplayer[citation needed]
Go to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Assassin's Creed III\ Open Assassin3.ini. Set VSync to 0.

Input

Single player input settings.

Multiplayer input settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Combined positive and negative mouse acceleration - can't be disabled. The game ignores slow mouse movement on vertical axis - it won't register until certain speed where it's all of a sudden too sensitive.
Mouse sensitivity		Set separately for each axis
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity		In aiming mode there is a radial deadzone of 30% while in looking around mode there is a huge 50% cross deadzone. The deadzone in looking around mode also doesn't work like in most games - it doesn't shift the point of minimum input but instead only ignores lower inputs so at 51% input you get 51% output instead of ~2% output like you would expect. That makes higher sensitivities hard to use because it feels like looking around with arrows.
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Single-player audio settings.

Multiplayer audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Up to 5.1 output.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Hungarian
Italian
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese				No voice acting despite saying so on Steam.
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish				Fan translation. See here

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Notes
LAN play
Online play		Shut down on October 1, 2022.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision			Use Helix Mod: Assassins Creed 3 (DirectX 11) - 3D Vision Fix.
TriDef 3D
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues unresolved

Game saves created with DLC installed do not load anymore after online services shutdown

After the online services have been shut down, users that had previously purchased DLC expansions such as The Tyranny of King Washington are now locked out of loading their singleplayer save-file. When trying to load it, the game gives out the error "Load failed. A Required Downloadable Content is missing". Also, trying to start said DLC expansions also gives a similar error stating the online services have shut down.

Issues fixed

You can find various fixes in this Ubisoft Support FAQ

AC3SP.exe has stopped working

Delete save file[citation needed]
The save file may be corrupted. Deleting the save file (after backing it up) and disabling automatic cloud save sync in Uplay may fix the crashing.

Low FPS when running two cards in Crossfire (Untested for SLI)

Set to single card mode[citation needed]
If you experience low FPS while running a crossfire setup, try disabling crossfire (running the game with only one card). This can be done under the "Performance" section of the AMD Catalyst Control Center, under the CrossfireX tab.

Low FPS when camera pointed to rich environments in Boston (Nvidia 9/10-series)

Disable MFAA

Open Nvidia Control Panel Under 3D Settings -> Manage 3D Settings click on the Program Settings-tab. Select the Assassin's Creed III executable file ac3sp.exe or add it manually. In the table below scroll to Multi-Frame Sampled AA (MFAA) and set to Off, even if the global setting is already off. Click Apply and restart your game. Notes Even though the Very High anti-aliasing setting is the only one that uses MSAA, this works regardless of your ingame settings.

Crash with faulty module dlumd32.dll

Update DisplayLink driver

Invisible Horse Carriages

The physics of the game is pegged at approximately 60fps so playing at higher FPS causes problems

Lock FPS via VSync
The game has VSync activated by default, so selecting an update frequency of 60Hz in the graphics options with VSync on solves the problem.

Alternatively set the FPS to 60 through the Nvidia Control Panel

Crash right after introduction video

Restore the introduction video
Removing the intro videos may cause the game to crash. If encountered, restore the missing files or verify the game cache via Steam/Uplay.

Display driver has stopped responding with GeForce 5xx GPUs

GPU tweak
Download MSI Afterburner. Go to Settings tab and tick unlock voltage control and monitoring. Go back to afterburner and increase slightly voltage - e.g. from default 1050 mV to 1100 mV. Notes Alternatively, GPU core clock can be decreased by 50 Hz

Stuck in the Introduction to stockpile and trade

Verify the game cache
Using Steam, right click on the game in the Library tab and select Properties. Under Local Files click on Verify Integrity of Game Cache. Launch game but do not load your save file. Go to Options and reset keyboard and mouse controls to default. Load your save game using only the keyboard. Do not move mouse cursor at all.

Controller not working

Disable any non-360 controller
Open device manager Disable any other HID-compliant game controller

Replace in Assassin3.ini
Go to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Assassin's Creed III\ and open Assassin3.ini Find the line "SelectedInput=KeyboardMouse2" and change it to "SelectedInput=Controller (XBOX 360 For Windows)" Save and exit

Launching the game with Comodo Firewall crashes the computer, forcing a hard reboot

Add Comodo Firewall exception[citation needed]
The use of Comodo Firewall may cause computer crashes. To solve this: Open Comodo Firewall Go to "Advanced Settings" Select "Defense+" tab Select "HIPS" Select "HIPS Rules" Select the game executable, right click on it "Edit", allow everything. Notes This may also work for other Firewall/Antivirus applications.

Crash when installed in a Storage Space

The game will refuse to run when installed on a drive which is managed by a Storage Space on Windows 8 and later.

Installing the Game on a drive that is not a Storage Space will fix this issue[citation needed]

Flickering/stuttering

Run as administrator[citation needed]
Running the game as administrator will fix this issue. If the game was installed via Uplay, you may need to navigate to the installation folder and run the .exe as administrator

Random Freezing for a few seconds

The game freezes randomly for a few seconds until resuming on NVIDIA GeForce cards

This is a Nvidia Driver bug in driver versions 451.48 and 451.67 (newest one at time of writing). Either downgrade to driver version 446.14 or upgrade to GeForce Hotfix Driver Version 451.85 or later, once available
Unconfirmed, this game is in the list mentioned in the Nvidia thread.

Other recommendations

• Force DirectX10 in the ini file
• Delete pbsvc.exe in the game files
• Install game on your C drive.
• Run game as administrator.
• Verify Integrity of Game Cache in Steam.
• Make sure that your firewall is not blocking game executable files including Uplay software.
• If you have an Nvidia GPU, turn off FXAA in the Nvidia Control Panel profile for the game.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	10, 11	DX11 is known to cause camera bugs on newer systems. Force DX10 in the INI file for a smoother experience.

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Anti-cheat	PunkBuster

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Vista SP2	7 SP1, 8
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHz AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6 GHz	Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66 GHz AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	2 GB	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	17 GB
Video card (GPU)	512 MB of VRAM DirectX 10 compatible Shader model 4.0 support	1 GB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible Shader model 5.0 support