Update: An official post from a Ubisoft community manager has debunked a packet of rumors regarding the forthcoming Assassin's Creed Animus Hub. Here's the publisher's full statement:
"Hello everyone. It has come to our attention that inaccurate rumors have been circulating online regarding the upcoming Animus Hub (ex-codename Infinity). We wanted to take this occasion to clarify that:
"1. All the rewards available in the Animus Hub will be entirely free.
- Assassin's Creed Infinity is now The Animus Hub, a launcher for modern Assassin's Creed games that Ubisoft definitely doesn't want you to call a launcher
- A month from launch, Ubisoft confirms "players have accessed Assassin's Creed Shadows ahead of its official release," advises you "stay in the shadows" to avoid spoilers
"2. There are no paid subscriptions or paid battle pass featured in the Animus Hub.
"3. Players will have access to regular content & missions at no extra cost.
"We will unveil more details about it closer to the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Thank you!"
Original story:
Ubisoft has reportedly taken swift action against a new Assassin's Creed Shadows leak that claimed to reveal details about a battle pass full of cosmetics for the upcoming stealth game.
A Reddit post on the r/GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit initially shared links to a plethora of images of different outfits, assets, and weapons, as well as the cosmetics apparently included in the battle pass, and a first look at the Animus Hub. However, at the time of writing, all but two of these images have disappeared, and the Reddit user who shared them says: "Ubisoft being Ubisoft, have issued a DMCA takedown."
The user's content descriptions still give a pretty good idea of what was shown, though, including some interesting tidbits about the Animus Hub. Originally codenamed Infinity, the Animus Hub will be a place to launch future games from – including Assassin's Creed Shadows, which it's expected to release alongside. Based on what's now apparently been leaked, though, it sounds like the hub will also serve as a place to unlock new game content, using currency that can be earned through the battle pass and simply by playing.
The Reddit user refers to the battle pass as "Season 1," implying it'll be the first of multiple. It's claimed that this first season is called "Eye in the Dark," which will include 20 tiers of rewards, all of which will be free. Ubisoft previously announced that the Season Pass for Shadows has been canceled, so it's unclear if any of these supposed battle pass rewards have simply been moved over from that – the developer already said that the exclusive season pass quest will be available to everyone on release day, though.
Bizarrely, it's also been claimed that there will be "partnerships in-game with Red Bull, VISA, Intel and BAPE Clothing and Sprecher." No indication has been given of what these partnerships could look like, and I frankly have no idea how they could fit in – this is definitely the strangest part of the entire post.
As with any leak, do take the information with a pinch of salt for now, although if it's true that Ubisoft was quick to issue takedown requests against so much of it, it certainly implies that what was shared was legitimate. We still have quite a wait before Assassin's Creed Shadows is upon us – it was actually supposed to launch today before it got delayed, pushing it back to February 14 next year.
