Assassin’s Creed Infinity has been largely shrouded in mystery since its reveal in 2021. Billed as a central hub for the iconic series, and heavily rumored for a 2024 release, new details have finally emerged in a new report from Insider Gaming. By the looks of things though, Ubisoft may be overcooking the microtransactions with “mini ‘battle passes’” on PS5 and Xbox.
As we already know, Infinity is an experiential live service hub that is meant to connect upcoming Assassin’s Creed games like Hexe, Invictus, and Red. From the footage provided anonymously to Insider Gaming, the player can shift from the Hub into Assassin’s Creed Red – one of 2024’s most hotly-anticipated RPG games – “within just a few seconds, picking up where they left off.”
Of course, quick launch and instant resume are hardly groundbreaking features, so where does the value for the player come in? Well, within Infinity itself you’ll be able to frequent ‘The Exchange’ – an item shop that offers “daily and weekly in-game cosmetics for Red’s two protagonists.” Whether or not these cosmetics will carry over between games remains to be seen, though we’re sure you’ll agree that a shop like Destiny 2’s Eververse isn’t so much about the player as it is about generating cash.
The more egregious feature found within Insider Gaming’s report is the introduction of ‘Projects’, which are described as “mini ‘battle passes’ with a narrative behind them offering players the ability to earn cosmetic rewards.” Projects will be added consistently during DLC and new game launches, as well as during content lulls to sustain player interest – we guess we know where the ‘Infinity’ comes in.
Introducing a system typically used in the best battle royale games and best multiplayer games is certainly a bold strategy, especially at a time when other single-player experiences like God of War Ragnarok have proved they can bolster replayability with expansive free content. At the very least, you’ll gain some fresh threads for your time and money invested, but how useful are they when you’re consistently shelling out to extend the shelf life of a game that innately has little replayability?
While the likes of Red might not benefit, Assassin’s Creed’s mystery multiplayer title Invictus should fare much better. At the very least, there’s a good chance that if you invest in the drip now it’ll be usable within this new PS5 game and new Xbox game, which is rumored to drop in 2025. 2024’s Ubisoft Forward event is expected to arrive around June/July, and we expect there to be plenty of concrete Infinity information shared at that time. For now, though, it’s difficult to see the point of Infinity beyond improving Ubi’s bottom line.
For more of the latest PS5 and Xbox news, check out which studio has joined the production of Xbox’s new Fable game. Meanwhile, for team PlayStation, read up on the cut Helldivers 2 content that would have let you fight bugs and bots like Solid Snake.