When audiences first encounter John Wick, his legend is already complete. He’s employed by Viggo Tarasov, and the mere mention of his name is enough to unsettle seasoned criminals. The myth arrives whole, and the story of how it took shape has never been told.
That gap is finally being addressed. The untitled John Wick game from Saber Interactive is officially set years ahead of the Impossible Task, during a period when Wick was still working as an active assassin rather than living as the retired killer seen in the first film. For anyone who has wanted that missing chapter, this is as close as the franchise has come to delivering it.
The stretch of history the films keep avoiding
Over the course of the movies, details about his past have been doled out sparingly. Viewers have learned that Jardani Jovonovich is Belarusian. They’ve learned that the Ruska Roma raised and trained him, and that the training was brutal. At some point between that upbringing and the man Viggo brought on, he became one of the underworld’s most feared assassins.
What happened in between remains largely unexplored. His first assignments, how many of his underworld connections began and when he adopted the John Wick name have hardly been addressed. Neither have the particular events that made him the Baba Yaga. Even the Impossible Task, the best-known slice of the franchise’s backstory, offers only a brief look at the killer he would turn into.
That leaves plenty of unanswered questions. At what point did fellow assassins begin referring to him as Baba Yaga? Which contracts forged a reputation that verges on the mythical? How did he come to know the criminal underworld’s key players, and what was his standing there before he chose to walk away?
Familiar characters alongside newcomers
According to Saber, its original story will broaden the franchise’s lore with both returning and entirely new characters. That positions the project as far more than a disposable spin-off. The studio calls it a new chapter inside the established John Wick timeline, and it is building the game in partnership with Lionsgate, franchise director Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves.
Calling this a “rewrite” doesn’t necessarily mean anything shown in the films will be undone. A likelier scenario is that years of scattered clues get woven together into a single, complete story. Wick’s history has been left deliberately hazy. This game has the chance to fill it in with concrete details, revealing the events that transformed a gifted hitman into the Baba Yaga whom everyone already dreads by the time the movies start.
Gun-fu, driving and Keanu Reeves
Players who tried 2019’s John Wick Hex should set aside expectations of tactical, turn-by-turn planning. Saber is positioning this title as a AAA, single-player, third-person action game centered on Wick's trademark gun-fu. In practice, that means gunplay blended with close-quarters fighting, cinematic camera work, atmospheric settings and high-intensity driving sequences.
The aim is to recreate the pacing and choreography of the movies while putting players in control of the Baba Yaga. Reeves is lending Wick’s likeness, voice and more to the project, while Stahelski is collaborating on the production.
No release date to mark just yet
Fans will have to wait. Saber continues to list the game as TBA, without a confirmed release year, let alone a specific date. Early industry estimates suggested it could arrive sometime in 2027 or 2028, largely because the project appeared to be at such an early stage of development when it was unveiled.
More recently, Steve Allison, Saber’s chief business officer, mentioned John Wick while talking about the lineup the company is assembling for 2028. Saber subsequently clarified that Allison had been speaking in general terms and was not announcing an official release window, meaning 2028 remains unconfirmed.
Even so, it’s the strongest clue so far about when Wick’s next game could land. While the timing is still open, the platforms are settled: PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
At some point during those untold years, a Belarusian boy trained by the Ruska Roma became a name that silences hardened killers. Saber intends to put that part of the story in players’ hands.