Yesterday, Ubisoft clarified one important thing about the company's upcoming live-service game Assassin's Creed Infinity. In a landscape saturated full of free-to-play live service titles, the announcement that Assassin's Creed would be shifting its focus from its traditionally single-player experiences to an ever-evolving service game was met with plenty of skepticism and disappointment from fans who prefer the narrative-centric aspects of the series. While that disappointment is certainly understandable, the news that Assassin's Creed Infinity will not be free-to-play softens the blow and gives fans hope that the title is headed in the correct direction.
Although the idea of the narrative-focused series turning into a live-service franchise still doesn't sit well with many fans, the idea that it won't be free-to-play gives the impression that Assassin's Creed Infinity won't fall prey to the common complaints that free-to-play live service games frequently inspire players to make. That's not to say that Assassin's Creed Infinity is completely out of the woods just yet, as previous entries have been critiqued for using similar tactics like microtransactions, but there's the potential for Infinity to rise above the live-service model and deliver a better experience now that it's been confirmed to not be free-to-play.
Assassin's Creed Infinity's Price Tag
The reason that it's such a good thing for Assassin's Creed Infinity to have a price tag when it launches is because it seems to guarantee a certain level of content quality and volume right off the bat. Fans have been paying $60-$100, depending on the various game editions that the franchise is known for, to play Assassin's Creed Origins, Odyssey, or Valhalla when they've launched. Further, each title was expected to take anywhere from 30 to 60 hours to complete the main story. What's more, those trying to see all of the games' side quests and optional areas will likely play the games for nearly 100 hours each, really cementing the value of their money.
Even on the low side of those numbers, fans who are willing to pay $60 for an Assassin's Creed game have come to expect at least 30 hours of content with each release. Now that it's been confirmed that Assassin's Creed Infinity will have an upfront cost, it's a safe assumption to make that the game will have, at the very least, 30 hours of content within it when it finally launches.
Reducing the Intrusive Microtransactions in Assassin's Creed
As the years have gone on, microtransactions in the Assassin's Creed series have gotten to be a little too much for certain players. Although the games don't require any additional purchases outside of the initial cost of the game to be enjoyed, they are full of ads for additional content for purchase that seem pretty intrusive for those looking to be engrossed in the story that the game is telling. By having an upfront, Assassin's Creed Infinity could potentially cut down on those intrusive microtransactions in favor of a more low-key background battle pass system.
While it would be nice for the franchise to cut down on that, it could definitely go either way. Obviously, the previous games have had upfront costs and still featured those microtransactions, but depending on the way that Ubisoft shapes the business model of the Assassin's Creed franchise from here on out, the company could really change the experience for the better. It's possible that the games needed to push microtransactions so heavily to recoup the costs of development, but if the entire franchise switches its model, then the series might not need to push as hard to for players to be making additional payments. Either way, the game having a price tag can be seen as a good sign for its quality.
Assassin's Creed Infinity is in development.