Assassin's Creed Infinity may bring "standalone multiplayer experiences" to the series

Ubisoft is exploring ways to build "standalone multiplayer experiences" for Assassin's Creed under the new franchise hub that is Assassin's Creed Infinity.

"Infinity is going to be a hub that will unite all our different experiences and our players together in meaningful ways," producer Marc-Alexis Côté explained in Ubisoft's recent Assassin's Creed showcase. Asked about the possibility of multiple players actually interacting through this hub, he confirmed that "we're actually investigating how we will bring back standalone, multiplayer experiences into the Assassin's Creed universe, all connected to the Infinity Hub."   

"Bring back" is the operative phrase here. Assassin's Creed has become increasingly open-world and single-player focused in recent installments, but multiplayer used to be a major part of the series' identity. Online modes added a lot of content and personality to the likes of Assassin's Creed 3, Brotherhood, Revelations, and Black Flag, generally through different shades of stealthy PvP where you tried to outfox other assassins. 

It's been nearly 10 years since we've seen a new multiplayer-equipped Assassin's Creed game, but with Ubisoft introducing Assassin's Creed Infinity as the tentpole for the whole franchise, it could give the publisher space to deliver multiplayer variants that sit alongside the irresponsibly large worlds that the franchise is now known for. 

Of course, when a new Assassin's Creed multiplayer game – or rather, "experience" – may arrive and how it will play is anyone's guess. It's reasonable to assume that not even Ubisoft knows exactly how this aspect of Infinity will play out, but it's encouraging to hear that the Assassin's Creed team is at least interested in more multiplayer modes.

We also learnt that Assassin's Creed is finally heading to Japan with Assassin's Creed Codename Red, the first piece of Infinity.