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Assassin's Creed Infinity has been described as a hub for future games as well as opaque "experiences" in the series, first in rumors and more recently officially. It has now also been described as a "gateway" for the franchise as well as a place where its "metastory will live asynchronously," because Ubisoft apparently hasn't streamlined this one just yet.
Ubisoft's latest financial report mentions Assassin's Creed Infinity a few times, usually between lines of text which would likely kill a 17th century pilgrim if they so much as tried to read this stuff. Here's the full description:
"At its heart, Assassin’s Creed Infinity will be a gateway for all Assassin’s Creed experiences where the metastory will live asynchronously. This project will allow us to link games with a common and more coherent narrative thread that will reward players for their involvement in the universe, driving engagement, while at the same time providing more discoverability for the content we create."
I'm familiar with many of these words, but arranged this way they do start to frighten me. I'm actually on board with the idea of Assassin's Creed storylines existing in parallel in an easily accessible way, especially if it creates space for more multiplayer games like the one For Honor veterans are apparently making.
But until we actually see this thing in action – presumably years from now – it's going to be hard to put it into any useful context beyond 'a thing that lets you play things.' Will it look and function like a storefront or launcher? Or perhaps a server browser? A big menu where you swap between purchased campaigns like in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade?
Here's my solution, Ubisoft: explain this thing like it's Super Mario 64. Assassin's Creed Infinity is Princess Peach's castle. Each new Assassin's Creed game (or, ugh, experience) will be like another painting in the castle for players to explore. If Infinity had come out years ago, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag would've been Dire, Dire Docks. Assassin's Creed Origins would be Shifting Sand Land. Assassin's Creed Odyssey would have to be Rainbow Ride because that shit goes on forever. You get the point. See, this metaphor also has the added benefit of picturing assassins like Ezio triple-jumping through the air while gleefully shouting "Wahoo!" in a vaguely Italian accent, which is a big plus in my book.
Confusing hubs aside, Ubisoft wants to give Rainbow Six and The Division the infinite Assassin's Creed treatment.
