Red Bull athlete sets haystack jump world record with real-life Assassin's Creed Leap of Faith

Professional freerunner and Red Bull athlete Lilou Ruel has broken the world record for the highest haystack jump by recreating the iconic Leap of Faith from Assassin's Creed — dropping 18.2 meters, roughly the height of a six-story building, into a massive hay stack.

Ruel's jump edges out the previous record of 18.1 meters set in May 2026 by fellow Red Bull athlete Dominic Tommasso, who made the leap dressed as Edward Kenway to celebrate the launch of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. Ruel landed unharmed and celebrated with friends, later joking on Instagram: "Thank you, Red Bull, for giving me wings for a few seconds. I do think we can go way higher, should we try?"

The stunt ties into a strong commercial moment for the Assassin's Creed series. Black Flag Resynced sold 2 million copies in its first 24 hours and has since crossed 3 million, while pulling in $1 million from day-one DLC on Steam alone — the biggest PC playercount in the franchise's history. Ubisoft has also confirmed a New Game Plus mode is in development.

The launch hasn't been without controversy, though. Ubisoft announced plans to lay off 380 employees in June, including 51 staff from its Barcelona office who worked on the game's diving sections. Those workers are now publicly campaigning for better severance pay, calling what they were offered "below any reasonable standard."