What is Assassin’s Creed Infinity?

Details have emerged that Ubisoft are working on a new Assassin’s Creed game, dubbed Infinity. Unlike previous installments of the series, it seems that Assassin’s Creed Infinity will feature a number of different historical eras rather than one, which could be accessible as part of a multi-threaded, timeline-busting multiverse. Or, it could be that Assassin’s Creed Infinity is planned as some form of hub to allow players to hop between a bunch of different Assassin’s Creed games. All we know for sure is that it’ll be a live service thingy that will “guide, grow, evolve, and define the overall future of Assassin’s Creed.”

We can infer some clues about what Infinity is destined to become from the fact that Ubisoft have been watching the continued success of Grand Theft Auto V with some envy. GTA V will be releasing later this year for a third console generation, having already sold 145 million copies worldwide. We don’t know how many people are regularly playing GTA Online, but GTA V is usually among the top ten games on Steam, with close to 200,000 people in-game at peak times every day. Ubisoft clearly wants some of that action. AC Online, perhaps?

Whatever the project’s scope, Assassin’s Creed Infinity is clearly a massive undertaking, highlighted by the fact that two of Ubisoft’s biggest studios will be collaborating on the project. Ubisoft Montreal, which created the first and most recent AC games, will be allied to Ubisoft Quebec, responsible for Syndicate and Odyssey. In a joint statement, Nathalie Bouchard of Ubisoft Quebec and Christophe Derennes of Ubisoft Montreal, said:

“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.”

It’s been stressed that cross-studio efforts on Assassin’s Creed Infinity won’t hinder the development of any interim mainline Assassin’s Creed games, which probably means we should start speculating where in history the next in the series might be headed. After the rugged charms of Valhalla, we’re hoping the next might head east, perhaps to Sengoku-era Japan, where the entire country can be explored. Now that would be an Assassin’s Creed to really get excited about!