Assassin's Creed: Codename Infinity has a brand new name. Designed to be "the single entry point for our fans into the Assassin's Creed franchise", the Animus Hub is going to be a critical component to the series in the years to come. While we are still yet to get a proper look at the Assassin's Creed Animus Hub itself just yet, there is plenty of information out there for you to wrap your head around.
It's an exciting time, with a plethora of upcoming Assassin's Creed games in development at Ubisoft. It's expected that Assassin's Creed Shadows and Assassin's Creed Hexe will showcase the potential of the Animus Hub, with other experiences joining it over time – including new experiments in narrative and multiplayer spaces. So keep on reading to find everything you need to know about the Animus Hub ahead of its expected launch in 2025.
Animus Hub release date speculation
Ubisoft is yet to announce an official Animus Hub release date, although it is widely believed that it will launch alongside Assassin's Creed Shadows on February 14, 2025. The Animus Hub will serve as a launch platform for all upcoming Ubisoft games in this series, similar to how COD HQ functions, and offer up expanded narrative threads. It's certainly intriguing, but information remains light on the ground.
Animus Hub gameplay
The Animus Hub may be the new name for Assassin's Creed Codename Infinity, but the function of it remains the same. The Animus Hub has been described by Assassin's Creed franchise's executive producer, Marc-Alexis Cote, as "not a game, per se" but rather "the single entry point for our fans into the Assassin's Creed franchise into the future." The initiative will see a closer collaboration between Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Quebec as the pair work to define the next installments of the Assassin's Creed franchise.
Assassin's Creed Infinity represents the future of the Assassin's Creed franchise – just not in the way that you might expect. Rumors of Codename Infinity began to spread in early 2021, and its existence was later confirmed by Ubisoft that July. In an open letter penned by Nathalie Bouchard (managing director, Ubisoft Quebec) and Christophe Derennes (managing director, Ubisoft Montreal), the pair reflected on how the pandemic had fundamentally changed the way Ubisoft created games, and that it had given the publisher "a moment to reflect on our organization." Assassin's Creed Infinity is the result of that reflection – it's not a game, but an evolving hub that can house the ongoing evolution of the franchise, and connect future game releases into a single interwoven experience.
What's the Animus Hub for?
Ubisoft has always worked collaboratively within its network, with one studio taking the lead and the others acting to support where needed. As the resources necessary to create something on the scale of an Assassin's Creed have increased, a palpable tension when the PS4 and Xbox One were introduced, the series creators at Ubisoft Montreal have traded lead development duties with the Quebec studio. Montreal developed Assassin's Creed Unity (2014), Assassin's Creed Origins (2017), and Assassin's Creed Valhalla (2020), while Quebec led Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015) and Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018).
The Animus Hub is designed to bring a more "cohesive approach" to the development of future games, which should shorten the time it takes studios to iterate, innovate, and implement new ideas. "Rather than continuing to pass the baton from game to game, we profoundly believe this is an opportunity for one of Ubisoft's most beloved franchises to evolve in a more integrated and collaborative manner that's less centered on studios and more focused on talent and leadership, no matter where they are within Ubisoft," the open letter continued.
The Animus Hub isn't the easiest thing to understand, because it doesn't necessarily have a direct comparison. For Ubisoft, it's a way for its talented studios to work smarter not harder as it builds the next generation of the best Assassin's Creed games. For us as players, Codename Infinity will be an evolving hub that will host and connect future Assassin's Creed games together.
How will the Animus Hub work?
Assassin's Creed's executive producer Marc-Alexis Cote says that "Infinity is going to be a hub that will unite all our different experiences and our players together in meaningful ways." That answer was prompted by a comparison of the Infinity service (as it was known at reveal) to the Animus – that's the in-game virtual reality machine developed by Abstergo Industries which allows a user to tap into, and explore, a genetic memory. This means that, in the future, flagship Assassin's Creed games will be accessible from the Animus Hub, and be at least tangentially connected to other titles available via the platform.
Which Assassin's Creed games will be in the Animus Hub?
Ubisoft has only confirmed two games which will launch through the Animus Hub so far. The first is Assassin's Creed Shadows, which is the Japan-set game in development at Ubisoft Quebec under the creative direction of Jonathan Dumont – who served as creative director of Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Immortals Fenyx Rising. The second is Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe, a game said to explore Europe's infamous witch trials from Ubisoft Montreal – with development led by Clint Hocking, the creative director of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2, and Watch Dogs Legion.
Assassin's Creed Mirage, which launched on October 5, 2023, will not be a part of the Animus Hub. Rather, this game from Ubisoft Bordeaux will likely draw a line under the recent era of games, concluding the broader arc that ran through Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, which charted the formation of the Assassin and Templar Orders.
Assassin's Creed multiplayer
On the subject of whether multiplayer features will be implemented as part of the Animus Hub, Marc-Alexis Cote, Assassin's Creed's executive producer, says that "We're actually investigating how we bring back standalone, multiplayer experiences into the Assassin's Creed universe – all connected to the Infinity Hub."
This is a fairly meta turn for Ubisoft, with Infinity already sounded a lot like the in-game Animus device as seen in the likes of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, but that's all that's been confirmed in that regard for now.
Will Assassin's Creed Infinity be free-to-play?
Assassin's Creed Infinity will not be free-to-play. Understandably, there's been some confusion as to how the Infinity Hub will function, which led to some fans speculating that it would be a free-to-play live service that would contain premium-priced Assassin's Creed games.
While we're still waiting for clarification on the fine details, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot had this to say about Codename Infinity in a 2022 earning's call: "It's not going to be free to play, and this game will have a lot of narrative elements in it."
Assassin's Creed Infinity development
While Assassin's Creed Infinity is a platform that will bring future games in the series together onto one evolving platform, it's also an initiative that's been described as a "new cross-studio, collaborative structure" which will help Ubisoft streamline the way it produces its flagship franchise.
Codename Infinity is led by Marc-Alexis Cote, who will now serve as executive producer of the Assassin's Creed franchise. Cote is joined by Étienne Allonier, the longtime AC brand director, to help bring about a more cohesive approach to the development of new titles.
Ubisoft Montreal's Julien Laferriere is serving as senior producer of Assassin's Creed Infinity, and will oversee broader production at both the Ubisoft Quebec and Ubisoft Montreal studios. Cote, Allonier, and Laferriere will work closely with Quebec's Jonathan Dumont and Montreal's Clint Hocking to bring their vision for Infinity and the wider Assassin's Creed series to life – with the pair sharing leadership as creative directors on the Infinity initiative.
