The Assassin's Creed Origins reviews are in and critics say that Ubisoft has made positive tweaks to the open-world, stealth formula and that the game's recreation of Egypt looks incredible. But while most are happy with what's on offer, fans have one big question: why doesn't Assassin's Creed Origins have multiplayer?

Previous Assassin's Creed games have featured multiplayer modes, including 2014's Unity which featured co-op and 2013's Black Flag which featured player versus player (PvP). However, during a discussion panel at E3 2017 back in June, Assassin's Creed Origins game director Ashraf Ismail said that the new game is "primarily a single player experience".

Instead, those looking for a way to enjoy and share the game with their friends would be able to make use of other online features. These include things such as the 'photo mode' which allows players to take screenshots of the game's majestic sights and scenes and see the photos that other players are taking too.

Some may argue that Assassin's Creed Origins is better off for ditching the multiplayer and focusing on the single-player story instead. Although the multiplayer in previous releases was entertaining, the story campaigns of other Assassin's Creed titles have been criticized as weak. In fact, it was a key issue that fans hoped that Ubisoft would address during the game's hiatus. Given that Ubisoft has said that Origins has benefited 'a lot' from the series' time off, it stands to reason that the story campaign is something that the company looked at.

Though it's understandable if many are disappointed. Fans love the thought of running around multiplayer maps set in Egypt, trying to distinguish between friendly pharaohs and fiendish foes. Origins has the largest open-world of any Assassin's Creed game and so there are plenty of opportunities for exploring that alongside friends.

With that said, Ubisoft could potentially introduce multiplayer in the future. It could come once the developer is satisfied that players have enjoyed the single-player and that additional online features wouldn't detract from that. Assassin's Creed Origins already has an extensive DLC season pass which includes several new gameplay features and brand new modes.

One such mode is the 'Horde Mode' which puts players in an arena and sees them face off against "endless" waves of enemies for a score and players can also compare their score to their friends'. That mode would be perfect for some co-op action as players could take on those endless waves of enemies together.

So while it's unclear if or when more multiplayer may be added to Assassin's Creed Origins, Ubisoft has a lot to work with. And, as players have made clear, greater online features would certainly go down well with fans.

Assassin's Creed Origins is out now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.