Assassin's Creed Shadows is the latest example of why Ubisoft is a joke

Ubisoft has just unveiled its next instalment in the Assassin's Creed franchise in a new cinematic trailer, which appears to have caused quite a stir in the gaming community.

The new Assassin's Creed game is called Assassin's Creed Shadows and it takes place in 16th century feudal Japan, where players will take control of two main characters in an open-world setting that is similar in scope to previous Assassin's Creed titles Valhalla and Odyssey.

The new trailer hasn't been well received by viewers as at the time of writing it has 250,000 likes and 600,000 dislikes, along with countless negative comments. Why is this happening you ask? Without mentioning the character choices and the setting of the game, which many gamers seem to be upset with, I believe the main issues for Shadows are Ubisoft's decisions when it comes to pricing.

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Above are all of the editions Ubisoft is offering, many of which feature pay-walled content and pay-to-win content. Remember, Shadows is a single-player, open-world RPG game. First, the $70 Standard Edition will get players the base game, but to get the bonus content, the quest "Thrown to the Dogs", you will need to pre-order. Notably, Ubisoft hasn't shown any gameplay for that pre-order content or any gameplay for Shadows at all, leading gamers to make a decision on pre-ordering entirely based on the cinematic trailer.

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The Gold Edition will get players the base game, the bonus quest, season pass, and 3-day early access, but for $109.99. The 3-day early access being in the Gold Edition (and every other edition above it) means the release date is actually 3 days before when Ubisoft says the game is officially releasing. This means if you get the standard edition, you are playing the game 3 days late. But for an extra $40, or more than half the game is worth, you can play it on time. With all this in mind, it appears Ubisoft is asking gamers to pay more money just to play the game when it actually releases.

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Moving onto the Ultimate Edition, which costs $129.99, gamers will get pay-to-win elements in the form of 5 skill points, weapons, armor, and a bunch of cosmetics. Pay-to-win elements in any game have been widely rejected in the gaming community, let alone in a single-player game where to them you need to pay an extra $60, or nearly the full price of the game. Furthermore, the two upcoming expansions teased in the season pass are void of any details.

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However, if you don't like any of those editions and don't want to "own" the game, you can get Ubisoft+ for $17.99 a month. Based on the pricing for Shadows, it's painfully obvious Ubisoft wants gamers to pick up their subscription service.

The pricing for Shadows is the latest example of a completely tone-deaf move by a major AAA developer/publisher, who appears to be completely okay with squeezing every last penny out of any Assassin's Creed fan.

Disclaimer: pre-order Assassin's Creed: Shadows at your own risk.