Leaked Assassin's Creed Shadows images have emerged that appear to show a selection of free Battle Pass rewards for Ubisoft's upcoming blockbuster.
Assassin's Creed has never offered a battle pass before, and Ubisoft has yet to officially announce any details about how it will work.
Still, datamined content seems to suggest that players will be able to complete daily quests from the game's new Animus Hub to advance a battle pass with 20 free levels and receive cosmetic items. Ubisoft now appears to be removing images from social media, including Reddit.
Cosmetic items include the kind of optional visual items that Assassin's Creed has regularly offered for free and for sale in the past, including character costumes, weapon skins, and new skins for your mount.
Assassin's Creed has also long hosted daily and weekly quests. As with most Ubisoft games, these timed challenges and rewards are found in the publisher's Ubisoft Connect app.
Shadows looks set to simplify all of this within its Animus Hub, the new and still fairly nebulous home of the series' modern story that will also act as connective tissue between future Assassin's Creed games.
The leaked artwork appears to show Shadows co-star Yasuke standing inside the Animus Hub, suggesting that players will be able to use character avatars to navigate it.
Eurogamer talked about the Animus Hub project, also known in development as Assassin's Creed Infinity, back in 2022 with franchise boss Marc-Alexis Coté. “It will be the only entry point for our fans into the Assassin's Creed franchise going forward,” he said at the time.
At a BAFTA event attended by Eurogamer in London earlier this month, Coté went into more detail about how the series will handle its modern narrative going forward, after admitting that it had been a “struggle” to stay consistent since the release of the series. series. initial protagonist Desmond.
“Our goal is to put story back at the center of the player experience,” Coté said. “The modern narrative will serve to enhance, rather than overshadow, the historical journey. By establishing a meaningful contrast between the past and present, we aim to restore the balance that was once the hallmark of the franchise.
“The modern story will explore deeper themes of memory, identity and autonomy, how the past shapes who we are and how controlling this past can affect our future. These themes will allow us to reflect on contemporary issues: freedom versus control, the the power of knowledge and the tension between individuality and conformity, all through the lens of history.
“The foundation for this new direction will take shape with Assassin's Creed Shadows, which will lay the foundation for this narrative evolution that will grow in the years to come.”
For more from Coté, you can read Eurogamer's reporting on how the Assassin's Creed boss addressed the creative backlash to Assassin's Creed Shadows and Ubisoft's decision to delay Shadows and restore confidence in its ability to release quality games.