What Is Assassin’s Creed Infinity? Ubisoft Explains the Next Phase of its Historical Series

So Infinity is like a launcher. However, rather than presenting games as library-like collections like Steam and Ubisoft Connect, Infinity masquerades as his Animus interface in-universe. A new entry in the series appears as DNA Memories instead of games. However, Côté says Infinity is more than just an Assassin’s Creed-themed launcher, and we should expect it to evolve over time.

“yes [Infinity] It doesn’t start out as a game,” says Côté. “The version of Infinity we launch is not the final version of Infinity. I think it opens up a world of possibilities for what can be done far beyond just a launcher for games.”

Infinity isn’t technically a game, but it does contain elements related to the Assassin’s Creed game. From now on, Infinity will be home to the modern or “meta” story of the series.

“People who like to immerse themselves in the past can jump right into it, without being disturbed or having to know who Desmond and Layla are,” Côté says. The game will be set in the past.

If Infinity features a storyline but isn’t a game, does that mean we won’t be controlling modern day protagonists anymore? increase.

“The way we tell stories evolves over time,” says Côté. “This is a long-term thing, not a short-term one. But the abstraction we want people to have is [Infinity] This is your Animus. A DNA explorer on your desktop. you are the hero of the story “

Côté cites codex entries as an example of one element of the classic Assassin’s Creed game that will be migrated to Infinity. “Our game had an encyclopedia. [the encyclopedia] It will be the one in the infinity hub. “

Separating the modern storyline from the core game is sure to be great news for some of the series’ fanatical and dedicated viewers. But Infinity doesn’t just address audience criticism. Future Assassin’s Creed games releasing on Infinity will vary in both size and genre. Codename Red is an RPG in the tradition of Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla, but Codename Hexe marks the beginning of an unconventional period for the series.

“What I can confirm with you is that [Hexe] is not an RPG,” says Côté. “When I say it’s a different type of game, I want it to exceed the expectations of Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. They’re all iterations of RPG design, right? But Hexe and Red I am taking a different path.”

“I think this approach from Infiniti will also allow for different experiences with different sizes,” he adds. “It doesn’t have to be all 150-hour RPGs, right? It’s about bringing variety to the places we visit and the ways we represent those times.”

While not part of Infinity, 2023’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be similar in length to previous games in the franchise. I will ask.

“Yes, absolutely, we will price accordingly,” Côté affirms. “Sometimes you can try it for free, which I think is a great way to entice players to come back.”

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was clearly a testing ground for what was to come for Infinity. Its DLC comes free, from small in-game events to an entire roguelite mode, and paid content starts with cosmetics and grows up to a 30-hour expansion pack. At Infinity, we can expect this kind of approach in the future.

But one thing Valhalla didn’t experiment with is multiplayer. This is what Infinity brings back to the series in the form of ‘Invictus’. Despite being said to be a standalone game distributed through Infinity, my first instinct was to assume it was free to play.

“The plan for Invictus’ business model is not yet finalized, but it is possible. [that it will be free-to-play]’ says Côté.

So while we know Infinity will offer some sort of free experience, it remains to be seen at this time if Ubisoft plans to use Invictus in the way Halo Infinite or Call of Duty use their own multiplayer/Warzone offerings. We’re not sure. However, much like Warzone, Ubisoft seems to be planning for Invictus to integrate many eras of single-player games.

“I think the concept art we had for Invictus hinted at the potential for crossover characters from different eras,” Coté said in a press briefing, showing the different games. Mentioned an art piece that showed a number of the characters of , standing side by side. “So you can see the intent there to allow Invictus to bridge our different games again.”

Meta stories, new genres, and multiplayer are all fascinating aspects of Infinity’s promise. However, the platform’s main purpose seems to be to greatly extend the support period for individual games. Rather than being a separate offering, the new Assassin’s Creed will be part of Infinity rather than live (and eventually die) on its own, which the new game’s devs support hard-ending his cap You ask if it means that there is no

“Exactly,” Côté says. “That’s not how we see things. We want to support everything that comes to Infinity for a longer period of time.”

“What I am very excited about at Infinity is not just our big game, but the idea of ​​not replacing one game with another. [don’t just] It replaces the new RPG,” explains Côté. “I think these games can live for a longer period of time, and we’re building them differently than we’ve had in the past. If you look at games like Valhalla, most of their expansions are games One of the things we’re thinking about right now is how to grow this experience, this world like an MMO, think of it as a single player MMO. [rather] than we have done in the past. “

Infinity sounds a lot less disruptive than I first imagined. This is clearly not Assassin’s Creed Fortnite. The series builds on the concept of single-player adventures in historical open worlds.But Infinity promises to make these worlds more static and flexible. Little is yet known about what it will ultimately offer, but whatever it is, Infinity sounds like a compelling response to the Seasonal Content Factory, the game’s multiplayer monolith.

For more on Ubisoft Forward, check out what’s new with Assassin’s Creed Mirage and mobile game Codename Jade.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.