Recently, Ubisoft pulled back the curtain on Assassin's Creed Infinity, a new approach to the classic video game series. Unfortunately, the details mean that most of the game is still veiled, even if it is known to be in development. It's years away at least and will serve as a live-service hub of sorts for expanding the Assassin's Creed franchise.
It's inspired by Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto's success with the live-service model, but it remains to be seen exactly what this is. From the sounds of it, it'll be a way to advance the solo narrative through the introduction of a wider world where players will return to the game as a starting point. In other words, instead of AC Origins, AC Odyssey, and AC Valhalla existing as all separate games, Assassin's Creed Infinity will contain all future stories for the franchise. Again, this is speculation—AC Infinity is early in development—but it does sound similar to what Rockstar plans to do with GTA 6.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is reportedly taking an "incremental development" approach to the franchise, wherein the game will release moderately sized and be expanded upon with new content for months and years afterward. As such, Assassin's Creed Infinity sounds like a game where players will be able to enjoy the story, maybe play it with friends, and engage in the Assassin vs. Templar conflict in new ways. One thing that does stand out is that AC Infinity will feature multiple settings, adding more and more as the game itself grows, but that begs a big question likely answered by having a modern take on the franchise.
Assassin's Creed Infinity Modern Settings
As fans of the franchise know, the Assassin vs. Templar conflict is global. While an individual game may focus on the conflict in North America, fans know that it's happening in France too. Due to the live service model, it's unlikely that players will be taking on individual characters per story, like past games, but instead one Assassin protagonist (maybe Templar too?) of their own creation. Otherwise, it doesn't really sound like a live-service game. Assuming this is the case, then it's likely that AC Infinity will be focusing on the conflict at a certain point in history, and that point in history is likely to be modern. In turn, this means that communication and travel has to be on par with a global conflict story.
Maybe it's racing across the world to prevent new Catastrophes pointed out by Desmond and Layla. Perhaps it's racing against the Templars to obtain the Pieces of Eden scattered throughout the world. Whatever it is, a live-service model featuring multiple settings needs a control factor: one character makes the most sense, but that character has to be able to go to these locations and do so. As such, the game is more likely to take place in more modern times than Ancient Egypt, Greece, or games that took place prior to the Industrial Revolution as seen in Assassin's Creed Syndicate.
When Does AC Infinity Take Place
Now, of course, that doesn't mean playing as Assassins in 2021(or whatever year it releases). But it does mean that players need a way to travel the world that is somewhat reasonable in terms of lore, so the game(s) associated with Assassin's Creed Infinity will likely be more modern than past games. That doesn't mean running around with a gun either, but Assassins operating from the shadows with unique tools in the 18th, 19th, or 20th century opens the door to bring back the best features of past games, while maintain a coherent narrative in a set time of space.
Narrowing this speculative time frame down is near impossible, but it's likely that the game would avoid the World War eras. Fans are likely looking at a period of years where there was enough global intrigue and happening to justify a tighter frame for the franchise to operate in. Of course, that's quite the balance too. Many have thought it was time for Assassin's Creed to end the modern-day storyline, while Ubi itself has admitted to avoiding certain time frames due to how the tech would change gameplay.
So, it's likely to be a particular decade with perhaps some modern-day in the background, but something where tech exists but the choice of a Hidden Blade over it makes sense. This could still be anywhere from the beginning of the 18th century to the end of the 20th, but it's likely to put some distance between it and games that took place in the 1700s. Either way, it's all up in the air for now, but Assassin's Creed Infinity's approach has to be a big change from the standard approach. Focusing in on a time period for global exploration makes sense; otherwise, if players are going to different points and times in history, many may ask what's the point of the live-service elements then.
Assassin's Creed Infinity is in development.