themetabite.com joined Ubisoft at their annual Forward showcase event on the 10th of September 2022. The Ubisoft Forward showcase provides fans with a sneak peek at future Ubisoft releases.
As already confirmed by Ubisoft ahead of the event, there was a "special Assassin's Creed showcase offering a peak at the future of the franchise." On the day, this included not one, two, or even three new Assassin’s Creed games, but four. These were: Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which takes place in 9th Century Baghdad and follows the escapades of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla sub-character Basim; Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade, the result of a long running deal with technology and entertainment conglomerate Tencent to create a mobile game for the Chinese market; Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, which takes place in Japan, and allows players to adopt the guise of a ninja assassin; and Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe, which is reported to be set in the Holy Roman Empire’s Witch Trials in the early 17th Century in Germany.
Here at themetabite.com we’re big fans of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed game franchise. Most recently, members of the team have been getting to grips with the Dawn of Ragnarök game expansion, released back in March of this year. But there have been a number of features associated with the most recent releases in the long-running franchise that make the game a good forerunner for what to expect in future, immersive role-playing games (RPGs) in the Metaverse.
First of all, there’s the scale and detail associated with the most recent Assassin’s Creed releases. While The Overworld, the dimension in which all Minecraft players create new worlds, comprises approximately 921.6 quadrillion blocks, providing a total area about 8 times the surface of the Earth, or approximately the surface area of the planet Neptune, Minecraft’s graphics are nowhere near the Triple-A visuals associated with Assassin’s Creed games. Released in 2017, Assassin’s Creed Origins is set in Egypt and allows players to roam a map of Egypt 80 square kilometres in size, the map of England in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is 120 square kilometres in size, and the map of Greece in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is 256 square kilometres in size! The size and graphical quality of Assassin’s Creed maps are therefore a good yardstick for what player’s might expect from the first iteration of Metaverse RPGs. Second, there is the navigational and fast travel elements, which allow players to bring up a world map, and pick places (synchronization locations) to teleport to. When exploring future Metaworlds, we see this as a well-developed game mechanic that, with some modifications, will work well in the Metaverse.
A small and often-overlooked part of Assassin’s Creed maps is the map boundary. While players can see beyond the edge of the playable map, they cannot cross it. If they do, they are re-materialised back inside the playable area. This is a perfect game mechanic for Metaworlds, where areas within the Metaworld may be under development and off-limits to visitors until a later date, allowing Metaworld developers to share their worlds, while continuing to build new areas in the background.
Which brings us on to Assassin's Creed Infinity. Originally announced in July 2021, Assassin's Creed Infinity represents “an opportunity for one of Ubisoft’s most beloved franchises to evolve in a more integrated and collaborative manner”. Executive producer of the Assassin’s Creed franchise Marc-Alexis Côté, has described Assassin's Creed Infinity as a hub from which players can control an in-universe avatar, which they’ll be able to use to explore future Assassin's Creed games and navigate to different Assassin's Creed experiences. This sounds very much an Assassin’s Creed Metaverse.
Ubisoft have already created a number of game mechanics that are likely to become standard in the Metaverse. They have the opportunity to build on these, with to Assassin's Creed Infinity and help build the standards for Metaverse interaction and functionality.
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