Far Cry 7 Update Will Make Single-Player Gamers Groan

A recent Far Cry 7 update will undoubtedly make fans of single-player games groan, and I don't blame them.

Despite arguably not reaching the same heights of gameplay quality early on in the series, Ubisoft’s Far Cry is still one of its most popular properties, alongside the likes of Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six.

However, maybe since 2014’s Far Cry 4, the series has been on a downward trajectory, with its signature gameplay formula becoming quite stale. It’s why fans have been desperate for the series to have a big refresh, but this latest update might not be what many fans want.

As reported by VGC (via Game File), when talking at Saudi Arabia’s Global Sport Conference, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot suggested that the future of the Far Cry series will be heavily focused on multiplayer. In other words, or at least how I interpret it, a live-service formula.

“Far Cry [is] really to bring the multiplayer aspects more predominantly pushed, so that it can also be played for a long time by players,” said Guillemot.

In one shape or form, whether it’s traditional competitive multiplayer modes or co-op, the Far Cry series is no stranger to such modes. So this news will come as no surprise to fans. This is why it leads me to believe that Ubisoft will focus on live-service elements more than ever for the next Far Cry.

Publishers wanting to focus on live-service elements are a constant bane of the video game industry, with many failing to achieve a winning formula, implemented successfully in free-to-play titles, most notably, Fortnite.

Yet, to give Ubisoft the benefit of the doubt, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has live-service elements, despite being a single-player campaign and for the most part, it’s implemented quite well.

That being said, it’s done in such a way that it’s easy to complete its evolving tasks to unlock free content, and if you wanted to, it can be just as easily ignored.

Whether Ubisoft decides to approach live-service elements in the next Far Cry, similar to that of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, remains to be seen.

Of course, much of the live-service talk here is speculation on my part, but I think we all know how companies like Ubisoft tend to operate.

At the time of writing, Ubisoft hasn't announced the next game in the series, but with its last game, Far Cry 6, releasing in 2021, hopefully, we won't be waiting much longer for the next entry.

Far Cry 6 is available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox.