The Templars Are Running The Asylum
If like me, you were hoping for the next Assassin’s Creed entry to be more focused and less bloated, Ubisoft has some bad news for you. Detailed earlier this week, the studio confirmed the next entry in the franchise, codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity, will be an online service-based game.
Yeah, I’m pissed about it too.
While Ubisoft itself has not gone into detail regarding what the game will actually look like, Bloomberg reports that Infinity will span multiple settings and timelines, constantly being modified and added to, instead of focusing on the lore and mythology of individual civilisations.
Ubisoft will take a new cross-studio, collaborative approach to the title, led by Executive Producer Marc-Alexis Côté, with multiple studios under the Ubi-brella working in tandem to create and maintain the biggest Assassin’s Creed game to date.
“Rather than continuing to pass the baton from game to game, we profoundly believe this is an opportunity for one of Ubisoft’s most beloved franchises to evolve in a more integrated and collaborative manner that’s less centred on studios and more focused on talent and leadership, no matter where they are within Ubisoft,” Ubisoft Quebec and Montreal managing directors Nathalie Bouchard and Christophe Derennes say in a joint statement.
“Most importantly, Assassin’s Creed has always been developed by multicultural teams with various backgrounds and perspectives that have influenced the depiction of its characters, locations, and cultures. While we know there’s always room for improvement, we believe this new structure allows us to ensure that diversity and representation within our teams continue to grow and match that of our players.”
As someone who sunk 100+ hours into Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and felt like they barely made a dent in it (not a good thing), this news is a real letdown. I’m a huge fan of the franchise, and despite the last few entries having a lot to like about them, they have felt weighed down by the scope of content, which has choked out some of elements that first made the games so special. It seems antithetical to a company that states it wants to “exceed the expectations of fans who have been asking for a more cohesive approach”. Time will tell if they get it right like the evolving worlds of Fortnite or GTA V, or if we are looking at another Marvel’s Avengers on our hands.