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Leaked Assassin’s Creed Shadows images have surfaced 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 is yet to announce any details officially on how this will work.
Still, datamined content appears to suggest players will be able to complete daily missions from within the game’s new Animus Hub to progress a battle pass with 20 free tiers and receive cosmetic items. Ubisoft now appears to be scrubbing images from social media, including reddit.
Cosmetic items include the kind of optional visual items Assassin’s Creed has regularly offered for free and for sale in the past, including character costumes, weapon skins and new looks for your mount.
Assassin’s Creed has long hosted daily and weekly missions, too. As with most Ubisoft games, these timed challenges and rewards are found within the publisher’s Ubisoft Connect app.
Shadows looks set to streamline all of this within its Animus Hub, the new and still rather nebulous home of the series’ modern day story that will also act as connective tissue between future Assassin’s Creed games.
Leaked artwork looks to show Shadows’ co-protagonist Yasuke standing within the Animus Hub, suggesting players will be able to use character avatars to navigate it.
Eurogamer discussed the Animus Hub project, also known in development as Assassin’s Creed Infinity, back in 2022 with franchise boss Marc-Alexis Coté. “It’s going to be the single entry point for our fans into the Assassin’s Creed franchise into the future,” he said at the time.
At a BAFTA event attended by Eurogamer in London earlier this month, Coté went into more detail on how the series will handle its modern day narrative in future, after admitting it had been a “struggle” to remain consistent since the departure of the series’ initial protagonist Desmond.
“Our goal is to put history back at the centre of the players’ experience,” Coté said. “The modern day narrative will serve to enhance, rather than overshadow, the historical journey. By drawing meaningful contrast between past and present, we aim to restore the balance that was once the hallmark of the franchise.
“The modern day storyline will explore deeper themes of memory, identity and autonomy, how the past shapes who we are, and how controlling this past can impact our future. These themes will allow us to reflect on contemporary issues: freedom versus control, the power of knowledge and the tension between individuality and conformity, all through the lens of history.
“The groundwork 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 reports on how the Assassin’s Creed boss addressed Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ creative backlash, and Ubisoft’s decision to delay Shadows and restore confidence in its ability to launch quality games.