To commemorate the 15th anniversary ofAssassin’s Creed, Ubisoft held a digital presentation all about the iconic franchise in September 2022. During this event, the French publisher announced an entire roadmap for the future of theAssassin’s Creedseries. Not only did the company drop a teaser trailer for a newACgame set in feudal Japan tentatively titledAssasin’s Creed Codename Red(now known asAssassin’s Creed Shadows), it also gave fans a first look at the mysteriousAssassin’s Creed Codename Hexand the mobile gameAssassin’s Creed Codename Jade. All of these games, Ubisoft said, would be part of a brand-new game hub for theACfranchise that would launch alongsideCodename Red. The game hub in question was calledAssassin’s Creed Infinityat the time, but was later renamed toAnimus Hubin 2024.
In conjunction with thisInfinityplatform, Ubisoft also revealed that it had plans to experiment with theAssassin’s Creedfranchise in the multiplayer field. One such multiplayer title, codenamedInvictus, was announced alongside the otherAssassin’s Creedgames, such asHex,Jade, andMirage. However, unlike the games mentioned above, no teaser trailer of any kind was released forInvictus. Information about the title is still scarce to this day, but from the little information shared about it, it appears thatAssassin’s Creed Codename Invictuswill be a standalone multiplayer experience, which is a first for the long-running franchise. The lack of a single-player component may be disappointing to some, but if Ubisoft handlesInvictus' launch properly, the decision to make a standalone multiplayer game may prove to be the right choice for the series in the long run.
Ubisoft’s Decision to Make Assassin’s Creed Invictus a Standalone Title Might Be the Right Decision in the Long Term
Many Single-Player Games Used to Feature Multiplayer Modes, Including Assassin’s Creed
In the mid-to-late 2000s,games with both single-player and multiplayer componentswere a dime a dozen. Though the practice was fairly prevalent in the PS2 and original Xbox generation, it became especially common during the PS3 and Xbox 360 era, thanks to the advent of online multiplayer and services like Xbox Live. During this period in gaming history, many single-player video games, both big and small, had multiplayer modes of some kind.Bioshock 2,Mass Effect3,Max Payne 3,Kane and Lynch 2,Uncharted 3, and evenGod of War: Ascensionall featured multiplayer components of varying quality.
When it came to this trend,theAssassin’s Creedfranchisewas also no exception. The third mainline installment in the series,AC: Brotherhood, was the first entry in Ubisoft’s traditionally single-player series to contain multiplayer elements. The game included various PvP modes that players could choose from, one of which featured a heavy emphasis on social deduction. Later titles in the franchise, likeAC Revelations,AC 4: Black Flag,andAC 3, all contained multiplayer components as well, but Ubisoft ditched this element of the series entirely during most of the PS4 and Xbox One generation.
Assassin’s Creed Invictus Being a Separate Game Could Give It a Greater Opportunity to Stand Out
After more than 10 years, Ubisoft will finally give fans themultiplayerACexperiencethey’ve been longing for withAssassin’s Creed Invictus. SinceInvictusis a standalone title, it will likely have a chance to reach a wider audience than a multiplayer component in a single-player game likeAC Brotherhood. Today’s gaming industry is dominated by free-to-play live service titles; if a multiplayer mode is tied to a $70 video game, it likely won’t get enough attention due to the lower price tags of its competitors, and that, in turn, can lead to low player counts.AC Invictusmay have more GAAS trappings than usual for theAssassin’s Creedseries, but due to it being a separate experience, it may have a higher chance of catching on and being supported by Ubisoft in the long run, unlike its predecessors.
