This year’s Assassin’s Creed, AC: Valhalla, has seen nothing but universal praise among the community. Not only does it not feature egregious microtransactions (which shouldn’t really be praise), but it brings us back to what Assassin’s Creed is best known for. It’s a breath of refreshed air in a series that’s long gone stale. Now, with a game that’s so heavily loved by fans, what would be the next logical step? Why selling XP boosts to squeeze every last dollar out of players, that’s how!
The last time Assassin’s Creed did this was with AC: Odyssey and people were not too happy needless to say. Monetizing the single-player space for gameplay benefits was long unheard of prior, so people were a bit upset about it. And rightfully so. With AC: Valhalla, it’s fairly clear that they took this as “we should sneakily add it” rather than “let’s not do the thing that people hate.” That’s not confirmed, but you and I both know exactly what’s going on. Since the game is seen as so great and so many are playing it, might as well make a quick buck along the way?
Fellow publication GameInformer approached Ubisoft for comment on this, to which they had this to say:
As more and more post-launch content becomes available, we want to give the option to players to advance their progression. Utilities allow players who lack the time to fully explore the world of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla to be able to acquire the game’s best gear, as well as other items, by accelerating their progress. For instance, these players can purchase maps that uncover some interesting locations in the world, but would still have to visit and play them to get their rewards.”
I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a complete lie. We all know Ubisoft at this point, they’re known for this sort of thing. They’ve admittedly had some really solid games recently, but this being added to AC: Valhalla is still inexcusable. That is, at least to me. I would like to hear your thoughts on this too. Do you think this is okay for Ubisoft to do again? If so, why do you believe so? Let me know in the comments below.