The discussion around Assassin's Creed Valhalla has been more or less dominated by players still put off by its unique announcement stream and "historical accuracy" concerns surrounding the game's equal approach to player gender, but many have missed that Ubisoft is making the next Assassin's Creed entry cross-generational through the Xbox Smart Delivery guarantee. That program might ensure that the days of repurchasing a game to play it on a newer console after an upgrade are finally at an end.
It was announced yesterday that Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which is taking the fictional action RPG series to a Viking setting, is coming this holiday season, presumably alongside the tentatively scheduled launches of the next-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X. It'll also be coming to this generation's PS4, Xbox One, and Stadia platform to join its controversially open-world predecessors. Games that release around or in tandem with new console launches usually leave players with the tough choice of which console generation to buy them for, but a consumer-friendly initiative from Xbox will change that for customers this time around.
As reported by ThisGenGaming, Assassin's Creed Valhalla purchases will be protected by Xbox Smart Delivery, which allows players who purchase certain games for the Xbox One prior to the Xbox Series X's launch to play them on either console. Xbox Smart Delivery is guaranteed for all first-party titles and left up to the discretion of individual external publishers and developers, and Ubisoft has "smartly" jumped at its first opportunity to use the groundbreaking service. That decision was also likely influenced by Ubisoft's close relationship with Microsoft in the marketing and release phase of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, as Xbox reserves exclusive marketing rights for the title.
Short of timed or total Xbox Series X exclusivity, that means that the Xbox team has maneuvered itself into a position to tout exclusive services like Smart Delivery with Assassin's Creed Valhalla along with the console's lineup of exclusives. Similar to prefacing E3 conference trailers with technically correct buzzwords like "World Exclusive," Xbox's position with this particular hotly anticipated title is enviable, even from the comfortable vantage point that Sony enjoys.
Though it undoubtedly also serves itself, a generous move like bringing Xbox Smart Delivery to buyers of Assassin's Creed Valhalla and other games is pro-consumer whichever way one slices it. Coupled with hosting beloved services like Xbox Game Pass, the Xbox Series X is poised to further ensconce loyal fans in its ecosystem and win over those on the fence with its player-first nature.
Source: ThisGenGaming
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/3da2upk
0 Comments