Ubisoft has revealed that its upcoming game for new-gen platforms, Assassin’s Creed Unity, will make use of real money transactions for players who wish to fast track their progress, without having to go through the process of unlocking them the old fashioned way by playing the game.
So instead of earning these items in the game, players can pay to have them unlocked with the use of their credit cards. Items available as paid unlocks include gear and vanity items.
The game’s senior producer Vincent Pontbriand stated in an interview with the Official Xbox Magazine that this was “pretty much” the extent of microtransactions for the upcoming game.
How the system works has yet to be explained in full, but how the system works appears to be based on ‘hacking’ the Animus to provide these unlocks in exchange for cash. It makes sense in the context of the game’s lore.
The developer said that monetization models wouldn’t be adopted into the core game experience unless it “made sense,” which in this case it clearly does.
“Companion apps, monetisation, other business models, digital only… We have to be reactive to these things, but not necessarily fundamentally change what we’re trying to do,” he said. “It depends. If we think it fits the gameplay, or the brand itself, the core values, we’re willing to take those risks.
“If not, then not. We’re not going to make any compromises.”
Assassin’s Creed Unity is set for an October 28 release date on the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
