Amid the reveal of Assassin’s Creed Mirage at Ubisoft Forward, players are concerned as they have spotted the mention of “Real Gambling” within the game’s age rating.
During the Ubisoft Forward presentation on September 10, five new games were revealed to be coming from the long-running open-world franchise. Games such as Codename Hexe and Codename Jade will be set in the 16th Century and Ancient China in 215 BCE respectively.
Codename Red will finally take the franchise to Japan, while next year’s Assassin’s Creed: Mirage will reunite players with Basim Ibn Ishaq.
Though hype for Mirage is aimed towards its return to the franchise’s roots, players have expressed their worries about the game, as mentions of “Real Gambling” have been noticed in its 18+ ESRB rating.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage reportedly features “Real Gambling”
ResetEra users modiz and deanna_beanna brought to light the reasons for Mirage’s classification on the Xbox Store, which are listed as the following: “Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Partial Nudity, Real Gambling.”
Modiz explained that “the AO rating seems to come from the Real Gambling warning, which is defined by the ESRB as ‘Player can gamble, including betting or wagering real cash or currency’.”
The ResetEra user continued, adding “as opposed to Simulated Gambling which is defined by ‘Player can gamble without betting or wagering real cash or currency’.”
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“It is likely that this rating is a provisional one of what the publisher expects the game to be rated as, but I don’t think I have even heard of an AO rated game in many years,” added modiz.
Some players were unsure whether gambling was mentioned in Mirage’s reveal, but deanna_beanna confirmed this was the case: “You are right…the logo shows up at the beginning of the Ubisoft showcase at 14:36. Doesn’t seem like it was a mistake after all.”
Assassin’s Creed player have shared their thoughts on the matter, which Twitter user @LumpyTheCook saying “I actually felt excitement for an Assassin’s Creed game for a brief moment before realizing this rating is because of loot boxes (real gambling) instead of anything cool.”
it's always interesting watching ubisoft launch a new assassins creed game and waiting for the penny to drop. like how are they going to fuck it up this time, ah real world gambling, of course
— sum 41 live in ontario 2005 (@evilpostmaker) September 11, 2022
Another user, @evilpostmaker, echoed this sentiment too: “Always interesting watching Ubisoft launch a new Assassin’s Creed game…how are they going to f*** it up this time, ah real world gambling, of course.”
It remains to be seen how gambling will be implemented in Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, as the game is touted to release in 2023.