Ubisoft has been tight-lipped about its planned hub for the Assassin’s Creed franchise called Assassin’s Creed Infinity since its announcement in 2021 and later some revelations in 2022. But some new details have now surfaced, and it seems like Infinity will focus on live-service elements.
A new report has revealed that Infinity will act as a live-service hub for all the upcoming games in the franchise. Some of the online elements that Infinity will feature have also been mentioned in the report, including battle passes called Projects for the Assassin’s Creed games.
Assassin’s Creed Franchise Is Getting Battle Passes
Insider Gaming got an exclusive look at demo footage of Infinity and revealed new details about the upcoming hub, which is set to be released on the same day as Assassin’s Creed Red later in 2024 or early 2024. It was revealed that it would have live-service features such as an item shop and battle passes for the new games in the franchise.
The item shop is called “The Exchange,” where players will be able to buy in-game cosmetic items for AC Red protagonists Naoe and Yasuke. Infinity will have a feature called “Synchronization,” allowing players to access battle passes called “Projects,” which will be available for each protagonist.
These projects will act as narrative-based “mini battle passes” and allow players to earn rewards such as cosmetics and more. Projects will consistently be added to Infinity with the arrival of new games and DLCs, and also if there is a lack of content, as a way to retain player interest.
This is mainly to bring monetization to single-player AC games, and since it is said that nearly eight upcoming titles will be reintegrated into Infinity, they most probably will have the projects. It is not yet known how or if players will have to pay for the projects. Moreover, Ubisoft plans to bring one mainline AC game every two years, so players may get Projects for at least two years.
Ubisoft’s Path to Live Service Has Been a Rocky One
Although live service in single-player games is surely out of the ordinary, Ubisoft has brought some elements to its previous games in the franchise. Modern AC titles such as Origins, Valhalla, and Odyssey already fall into that category.
Each of these titles has DLC and an in-game item shop that allows players to purchase cosmetic items for the protagonists. Despite many calling bringing live-service elements to AC games a bad move, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla became the highest-selling game in the franchise.
However, the recent live-service title from the publisher, Skull and Bones, hasn’t had the success that was expected from it, with players calling the game out for monetization over its $70 price point for a live-service title, that too a bad one, but it will be interesting to see how things turn out for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed titles.
What are your thoughts about battle passes in Assassin’s Creed? Let us know in the comments.
