The next iteration of one of the world’s most popular game series Assassin’s Creed will be released as an online multiplayer gaming service. Called Assassin’s Creed Infinity, the game is expected to rival popular online games such as Fortnite and GTA V and is being developed by Ubisoft Quebec and Ubisoft Montreal under the company’s new cross-studio collaborative efforts a year following the sexual harassment allegations.
Players of one of the most popular game franchises Assassin’s CreedOpens a new window have a reason to rejoice, now that its developer Ubisoft has confirmed the development of the next installment in the series. Codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity, Ubisoft said the new game is in its early stages of development but did not reveal any details on gameplay, content, et. al.
According to Bloomberg, this new edition of the video game is expected to bring cohesiveness to the series, in that it will now feature multiple historical settings as opposed to campaign-based limits of its predecessors. As such, the project is reportedly at a scale bigger than what gamers are used to from the series.
However, Ubisoft, whose formal confirmation of the project came hours after the Bloomberg reportOpens a new window , remained mum on this game structure, and only mentioned: “an important upcoming, early-in-development project codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity.†Ubisoft also announced new content for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
Bloomberg’s source, which are people familiar with the development, said that the game will be an online platform that evolves with time and will run for years. This approach can possibly be somewhat akin to several online multiplayer games such as Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, or Fortnite, which took the world by storm.
“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,†the Montreuil, Paris-based company saidOpens a new window .
See Also: Why Is Java’s Use in the Gaming Industry Limited?
What Gamers Can Expect from Assassin’s Creed Infinity
Let us take the example of Fortnite.
Released just four years ago in 2017, Fortnite managed to pull 350 million registered playersOpens a new window by 2020. The upsurge was a result of the addition of the Fortnite Battle RoyaleOpens a new window as a gaming genre wherein 100 players battle each other to win by being the last person standing.
Following this success, Epic Games, Fortnite’s developer and publisher brought in Party RoyaleOpens a new window , another gaming mode except this one doesn’t feature guns or any other weapons, and by extension any multiplayer combat. Instead, it is designed as a socializing space wherein players can meet other players, hang out, watch movies, attend concerts without being eliminated.Â
Party Royale is essentially a different 3D universe that is continuously evolving with newer content added with time.
It’ll take years for the Assassin’s Creed series to be realized on par with what Epic’s Fortnite offers. And naturally, it is a tad improbable that Ubisoft’s hit game does not have any combat missions (the name literally has assassin). The idea is that Ubisoft will stitch together multiple historical settings within Infinity and will continue to add more missions for players to always have something new to play and stay invested.
Thus, a new and ambitious live gaming service format is on the cards.
Ubisoft’s Trough
Founded in 1986, Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest game development studios that also released gems such as the Prince of Persia trilogy, Far Cry series, and others, was bogged down by employee claims of sexual harassment in the workplace last year. In 2020 as part of the broader #MeToo movement, at least a dozen people came forward publicly and slammed the company for either mishandling complaints made over the years, or flagrantly sweeping them under the rug.
Accusations ranging from sexism to outright sexual assault shook the Ubisoft management as well as outsiders over concerns about how the company is being run over the decades. Employees working at the company’s Paris headquarters even compared the environment to that of a frat house. The situation had become so blatant that one out of four of the 14,000 employeesOpens a new window surveyed admitted to either witnessing workplace misconduct or experienced it themselves in the past two years.
Yves GuillemotOpens a new window , current chairman and CEO, and one of the five brothers who founded Ubisoft subsequently initiated extensive changes to the company. This involved the departure of the then creative director and editorial vice president Maxime BélandOpens a new window , editorial VP & creative services Tommy FrançoisOpens a new window , creative director for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Ashraf IsmailOpens a new window , CEO of Ubisoft Canadian Studios Yannis MallatOpens a new window , and even chief creative officer Serge HascoëtOpens a new window who also happened to be Guillemot’s long-time friend.
This is a *huge* deal for Ubisoft. Serge Hascoet was the man in charge of ALL of their games. With one word he could greenlight or cancel a project. Many Ubisoft employees believed he was too powerful and close to the CEO to ever be ousted, no matter how many allegations emerged
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 11, 2020Opens a new window
The company also created a new role as the head of diversity and inclusion, hired new vice presidents, and intended to increase the number of women in the staff.
Following Hascoët’s unceremonious exit, the company went on to release Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, Tom Clancy versions, and several other games.
Ubisoft’s Rebound
Since the changes were instituted, Ubisoft seems to be steering toward inclusionary practices among its international offices. As a result, the company has aligned Ubisoft Quebec and Ubisoft Montreal in a cross-studio collaboration to ensure that Assassin’s Creed Infinity “continues to exceed the expectations of fans who have been asking for a more cohesive approach to its development over the past several years.â€
This includes production as well as the creative aspects of the project. Ubisoft believes that the involvement of developers and creators from multicultural backgrounds has positively influenced the character, location, and cultural depiction in the game. “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 continue to grow and match that of our players,†the company added.
Assassin’s Creed Infinity will comprise Marc-AlexisOpens a new window Côté (Quebec) and Étienne AllonierOpens a new window (Montreal) as the executive producer and the brand ambassador, respectively. Ubisoft Montreal’s Julien LaferrièreOpens a new window will work as the senior producer while Jonathan DumontOpens a new window and Clint HockingOpens a new window will serve as the creative leads for Ubisoft Quebec and Ubisoft Montreal teams respectively.
Previously, the Montreal team piloted Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, while its predecessor Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was released under Ubisoft’s Quebec team. It remains to be seen if the pre-existing friction between the two teams will resurface as the development of the new online game gains steam.
See Also: Cloud Gaming Will Make Consoles Obsolete, But Will Game Developers Be Better Off?
Employee Concerns
A healthy amount of team rivalry can be a good thing, especially to nurture competitiveness and fuel growth. However, from what Bloomberg’s sources have to say, the reorganization that Ubisoft instigated hasn’t completely weeded out the problem. They said that some managers who were accused of sexual misconduct continue to remain in senior positions at Ubisoft.
Closing Thoughts
The first Assassin’s Creed by Ubisoft was released in 2007, which has since averaged a new edition released every one or two years, with each game featuring a different historical setup. In total, there are 12 game installments, with the latest being Valhalla. Assassin’s Creed can be played on Windows, Xbox consoles, PlayStation consoles, and Stadia.
With Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the company also registered an all-time high performance for the series with 141 million unique playersOpens a new window (up 20%) and record-setting sales, up 50% from the previous recordOpens a new window set in the 2012-2013 financial year.
Assassin’s Creed Infinity certainly seems like one of the most enterprising projects by Ubisoft so far. Sure it hasn’t been a pioneer in the area and borrows the idea from the success of its competitors, but how the company binds together all existing settings and integrates them with the new scenarios, storylines, characters should be an interesting prospect.
Let us know if you enjoyed reading this news on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We would love to hear from you!