UPDATE - 1.55pm: Ubisoft has just advised that, despite the details in the press release, the Codex Edition will not be sold in New Zealand. The original story has been modified to avoid confusion.

Ubisoft has announced that the PC version of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will be available on March 18th.

The PC version of the game introduces a "never-before-seen multiplayer layer", which enables the player to assist the Templars "by using the Abstergo to train in the art of assassination to eliminate the Assassins once and for all". According to the press release from Ubisoft, "players can choose from a wide range of unique characters, each with their own signature weapons and assassination techniques, and match their skills against other players from all over the world in different game modes."

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is available both at retail and by digital download, with the retail version releasing in two flavours:

The Standard Edition: Main game and Abstergo Project Update 1.0 and 2.0 and The Da Vinci Disappearance.

The Auditore Edition:

• Transparency box with 3D thermoformed portrait of Ezio Auditore
• Main game and Abstergo Project Update 1.0 and 2.0 and The Da Vinci Disappearance
• Multiplayer Collectible Cards
• Assassin's Creed Lineage DVD - discover the story of Giovanni Auditore, Ezio's father, by watching this three-episode short movie
• Exclusive unlockable content: Ezio "Drachen Armour" and one exclusive single-player outdoor map, The Aqueducts map.

No RRP details for any of the aforementioned editions were available at the time of writing.

The specs for PC are as follows:

Minimum Configuration: Processor: Intel Core® 2 Duo 1.8 GHZ or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHZ Video Card: Nvidia 7900 256 MB or ATI Radeon X1950 256 MB   Recommended Configuration: Processor: Intel Core® 2 Duo E6700 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ or better Video Card: GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 4700  or better   Detailed version Minimum Configuration: SUPPORTED OS: Windows® XP (32-64 bits) /Windows Vista®(32-64 bits)/Windows 7® (32-64 bits) Processor: Intel Core® 2 Duo 1.8 GHZ or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHZ RAM: 1.5 GB  Windows® XP / 2 GB Windows Vista® - Windows 7® Video Card: 256 MB DirectX®  9.0–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (see supported list) Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 –compliant sound card DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0 DVD-ROM: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive Hard Drive Space: 8 GB Peripherals Supported: Keyboard, mouse, optional controller   * This product does not support Windows® 98/ME/2000/NT   Recommended Configuration: Processor: Intel Core® 2 Duo E6700 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ or better Video Card: GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 4700  or better Sound: 5.1 sound card Peripherals: Keyboard, mouse, joystick optional (Xbox 360® Controller for Windows recommended)   Supported Video Cards at Time of Release: ATI® RADEON®  X1950, HD 2000/3000/4000/5000 series NVIDIA GeForce® 7/8/9/100/200 series