The next game in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise will unfold across multiple historical settings and receive persistent updates, according to a report from Bloomberg. The game, which is currently codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity, will join the likes of Fortnite and Apex Legends by offering ongoing updates to keep players engaged.
Ubisoft later confirmed it is developing Assassin’s Creed Infinity, writing in a blog post that “a collaborative, cross-studio structure between Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Quebec […] will guide, grow, evolve, and define the overall future of Assassin’s Creed that includes an important upcoming, early-in-development project codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity.”
Recent entries in the 14-year-old Assassin’s Creed franchise have ballooned in size. The most recent title, 2020’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, could easily take more than 100 hours to fully explore and complete. In this sense, the Assassin’s Creed games have already offered a live service game experience by allowing players to truly devote huge chunks of their time to completing every side quest. This upcoming Assassin’s Creed game will be the next logical step in the trend.
Since this upcoming game will have to incorporate ongoing, persistent updates, it won’t take place in just one historical time period, as previous Assassin’s Creed games have done. instead, it’ll contain multiple settings, with the potential to include even more as time goes on. A spokesperson for Ubisoft told Bloomberg that the team hopes to “exceed the expectations of fans who have been asking for a more cohesive approach” to the series.
“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 centered on studios and more focused on talent and leadership, no matter where they are within Ubisoft,” said Nathalie Bouchard, managing director at Ubisoft Quebec, and Christophe Derennes, managing director at Ubisoft Montreal, in Ubisoft’s blog. “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 continues to grow and match that of our players.”
But unidentified sources told Bloomberg that some complications remain in the development pipeline. Last year, multiple senior leaders at Ubisoft were accused of harassment and abuse. Bloomberg’s sources said that “some managers accused of abusive behavior remain in senior positions after the reorganization.”
Asked about this, a Ubisoft spokesperson told Bloomberg, “Employees who have been under investigation would not remain at Ubisoft if results of investigations warranted termination.” The spokesperson also declined to comment on individual cases.
Update: This story has been updated with confirmation from Ubisoft, which announced that development on Assassin’s Creed Infinity will be led by Marc-Alexis Côté, who will serve as executive producer of the Assassin’s Creed franchise; Ubisoft Montreal’s Julien Laferrière, who has been named senior producer; and Jonathan Dumont and Clint Hocking, who will lead as creative directors, overseeing the teams at Ubisoft Quebec and Ubisoft Montreal, respectively.
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