Ubisoft seems to be going all-in with its selection of free-to-play live service titles. Recently, it revealedGhost Recon Frontline, which has featured multiplayer in the past but not to this degree. The majority of the franchise focuses on more single-player-focused tactical battles with small-scale multiplayer added in, yetFrontlineis essentially a living battle royale world. It’s attempting to make some differences, but thereception toGhost Recon Frontlinehasn’t been too welcoming.
Of course,Frontlineis only the most recent entry in a Ubisoft franchise to go this route. Ubisoft had previously announcedDivision Heartland, taking that franchise in a similar, if more fitting, direction. Yet, it’s not only Ubisoft’s shooters that seem to be getting this treatment. There arerumors that the nextFar Crywill be yet another live-service evolving world title, and it makes sense given Ubisoft has already announcedAssassin’s Creed Infinity, an entry it describes as an “evolving world with multiple settings.”
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The Ubisoft Open World vs. Evolving World
Ubisoft is known for following a pretty thorough open-world model in some games, which many enjoy ingames likeFar Crybut hate in others likeAssassin’s Creed. This move seems to be upping that formula and taking these open-world designs to something more heavily reliant on a continually evolving state.
The language across each of the aforementioned titles—Ghost Recon Frontline, Division Heartland, andAssassin’s Creed Infinity—may even suggest Ubisoft is following a similar model. All of this is to say that, while whatAssassin’s Creed Infinitylooks like remains to be seen, there’s a high possibility that it is more similar toGhost Recon Frontlinethan it is different.
Ubisoft’s Live-Service Formula? Ghost Recon vs. Assassin’s Creed
Ghost Recon Frontlineis discussed as a “forever-evolving world,”where seasonal and content updates bring in more game modes, maps, tactical gear, characters, and more. Its primary focus is a game mode called Expedition, which offers a goal-oriented alternative to the standard battle royale formula. Yet, it’ll feature other game modes for players and build upon that season after season. Indeed, based on what’s been revealed so far, it doesn’t seem that different fromCall of Duty: Warzone, Apex Legends,andFortnite.
Ubisoft’s aforementioned descriptions ofFrontlineandAssassin’s Creed Infinity(“forever-evolving world” and “evolving world with multiple settings” respectively) are eerily similar. Hopefully, it doesn’t turnAssassin’s Creedinto a battle royale game, still electing to focus on its story-based roots, but it’s hard not to see howAssassin’s Creed Infinitycould, theoretically,play a lot likeFrontline.
Assassin’s Creed Infinitycould have a main gameplay mode that focused on the story elements of the franchise, accompanied by other game modes and particularly multiplayer. Now, multiplayer is nothing that new for the franchise, but hopefully, these modes are not all multiplayer-focused. Whereas Ubisoft intends to add more maps toGhost Recon Frontline, it intends to add morelocations toAssassin’s Creed Infinity. Frontlineis launching with one map that’ll likely be easily divided among multiple game modes, whileInfinitycould have 2-3 dominant locations depending on the game mode.
Frontlinewill be adding new characters, or contractors, each season that can go down various skill paths and be utilized in different ways on the tactical battlefield.Assassin’s Creed Infinitycould add multiple Assassins or Templars, allowing players to play both sides of the conflict. In short, the live-service model is pretty clearly defined already, and Ubisoft—despite its own twists here and there—thus far seems to be following it to a letter.
Of course, this is just speculation. No one outside of Ubisoft knows whatAssassin’s Creed Infinityis shaping up to be, and there’s plenty of reason to believe that it is something different and unique. At the end of the day, though, it’s a live-service title utilizing similar language toGhost Recon Frontline, and it seemsUbisoft’s traditional emphasis on open-world titlesis slowly shifting to evolving-world titles.
Ghost Recon Frontlineis in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
