Ubisoft is best known for its work on the Assassin's Creed franchise, and the French publisher has recently announced that it would be working on a live-service title called Assassin's Creed Infinity. As is the case with most things Assassin's Creed, there's a lot of contention surrounding the announcement While some fans seem extremely excited at the prospect, others have made it clear that this is not what they wanted from the series.
Assassin's Creed Infinity is being touted as a platform for the franchise moving forward, as the service will house different experiences as it continues to grow over its lifetime. While the announcement might have come as a shock for some, it isn't entirely surprising given Ubisoft's recent work with the series.
Assassin's Creed Was Already Building Towards Infinity
Ever since Ubisoft took a year-long gap after the release of Assassin's Creed Syndicate to ensure enough development time for 2017's Assassin's Creed Origins, it started to become increasingly obvious what the company was aiming for via its RPG revolution. With the shift towards an RPG structure, Assassin's Creed littered its huge worlds that once felt barren with a multitude of marginally better yet repetitive side-quests. A plethora of loot comprising of armor sets and weapons kept the grind for higher numbers engaging enough for some fans, and this framework also allowed Ubisoft to delve deeper into the microtransactions model for XP and gear. A plethora of post-launch content spanning entire campaigns comprised of mythical deities and figures has also been released.
With Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Ubisoft upped the ante in a number of ways, as its rendition of ancient Greece depended on solely arbitrary number crunching, courtesy of the expanded-upon RPG systems. The game also received loads of post-launch expansions, including Legacy of the First Blade and The Fate of Atlantis among many others. 2020's Assassin's Creed Valhalla dialed back some of the grinding associated with leveling in AC Odyssey, but it doubled down on the paid post-launch support with Wrath of the Druids and the upcoming Siege of Paris alongside a bunch of other DLCs and seasonal content.
Assassin's Creed was consistently building towards a live-service model for the franchise moving forward, as evident by these entries. Ubisoft also acknowledged this in a recent financial report as well, as high-ranking officials stated that the company would be focusing more on free-to-play experiences moving forward. It's yet to be ascertained whether Assassin's Creed Infinity turns out free-to-play, but most speculation points to this being the case. While the recent negativity surrounding the announcement is not defining the game's quality, there is a plausible doubt as to what this means for the franchise moving forward.
Ubisoft states in its official announcement about not passing "the baton from game to game", which suggests that Assassin's Creed Infinity might become the only focus for the franchise once it releases. If true, this could be a shocking revelation for series fans that don't resonate with live-service titles. As demonstrated by Activision's reliance on pumping out a new Call of Duty every year, along with its live-service battle royale game Call of Duty: Warzone, something similar could happen with Ubisoft's subsidiaries. Under-performing studios could be put into support roles for feeding more content into the next expansion, something that would surely frustrate some fans.
Still, with the project itself nowhere near completion, many of these concerns are still just far-sighted speculation at this point. After all, if Ubisoft is able to realize Assassin's Creed Infinity's potential, the game could cater to every type of fan.
Assassin's Creed Infinity is in development for unspecified platforms.