"Assassin's Creed Unity" players are encouraged to spend over $99.99 with the in-game currency system implicated in
Ubisoft's latest release, revealed Wednesday.
The seventh installment in the "Assassin's Creed" franchise from developer
Ubisoft Montreal had its reviews embargoed from the press until 12 hours after the game's release. On top of that, a microtransaction system in the game didn't go live until the night of the North American launch, according to
Polygon. The microtransactions in "Assassin's Creed Unity" functions as a shortcut of upgrading items and skills without experience points through the purchase of "Helix Credits." Helix Credits can only be purchased with real life money and Ubisoft is selling bundles that range from $19.99 in price to $99.99.
One example of Helix Credits use is revealing the hidden location of collectables scattered across the game's Paris city map, for the price of 150 credits. "Assassin's Creed Unity" is not the first game in the series to feature microtransactions, as last year's release of "Assassin's Creed Black Flag" did the same for multiplayer. Damien Kieken of Ubisoft defended the use of microtransactions in "Black Flag" during this year's Game Developers Conference, by saying the move allowed the company to
provide new multiplayer maps for free. Ubisoft is also not the only game publisher pushing microtransactions in its releases, as other games such as "Tomb Raider" and "Gran Turismo 6" featured them as well.
However, the appearance of Ubisoft trying to hide the use of microtransactions in "Assassin's Creed Unity" from reviewers, who were told not to release their reviews until hours after the game's release, will not sit well with everyone. It's also coming at a time where criticism of free-to-play games relying heavily on microtransactions for profit is gaing more publicity, such as the the
recent South Park episode.
"Assassin's Creed Unity" is available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC for $59.99.