As if Assassin's Creed games weren't already a bottomless pit of stuff to do, Ubisoft now wants to literally make a never-ending entry in the series.
The aptly codenamed Assassin's Creed Infinity is set to be a live-service game that will evolve and expand over time, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Instead of it being one isolated look into a historical period, Infinity is instead looking to stitch different settings together with room to expand and develop each one post-launch. Bloomberg says Ubisoft has been inspired by the longevity of games like Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto 5, which continue to make Epic Games and Rockstar a stupid amount of money.
While Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Quebec usually take it in turns to develop each iteration of Assassin's Creed, Infinity will be a joint effort between the two divisions with Quebec's Marc-Alexis Côté taking charge overall. Each studio will still have its own creative director—with Jonathan Dumont heading up the role for Ubisoft Quebec and Clint Hocking for Ubisoft Montreal. Bloomberg speculates that the two studios' occasionally bitter rivalry may see some future bumps in the road.
Following the report, Ubisoft posted a separate blog post confirming that the game is in development, along with providing a bit of additional context. The studio echoed Bloomberg's report that the game is still in the very early stages of development, and delved into the decision to combine the efforts of Quebec and Montreal.
"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."
Something which Ubisoft fails to acknowledge in its post is the fact that the reorganisation continues to leave many of the people accused of harassment last year in charge. "Several men accused of abuse remain in lead roles after this reorg, which led to complaints on the internal forums," reporter Jason Schreier tweeted. "A Ubisoft spokeswoman says they 'had their case rigorously reviewed by a third party and were either exonerated or underwent appropriate disciplinary actions.'"
Despite Ubisoft repeatedly insisting everything is okay now, nobody is really convinced. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said earlier this year that the company had created a "clearer, more comprehensive, and more actionable" code of conduct to aid in reporting harassment and abuse. But with employees still saying nothing has changed in the last year and Schreier's latest claims, Ubisoft aren't out of hot water yet.
https://www.pcgamer.com/assassins-c...rvice-game-with-multiple-historical-settings/
I don't like the idea of "games as a service" but then again, I don't play many Ubisoft games.
