Assassin’s Creed Mirage: A Shorter Game with Big Impact
The Assassin’s Creed Mirage playtime is a hot topic among fans as they wait to get their hands on Ubisoft’s latest stab at the Open-world game genre. The short answer is that Mirage is about five times shorter than Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The long answer requires a look at why Ubisoft is making this gamble, and whether or not it could convince other studios to prioritize gameplay over length.
With an average playtime of 20-23 hours, Mirage is about three times shorter than an average Valhalla playthrough. That’s a lot of numbers, so I’ll break it down for you. Valhalla was about twice as long as Origins, and Origins was about twice as long as Odyssey. So, in other words, Mirage is about twice as short as Valhalla, which was released in 2022.
That’s quite a bit shorter, but it’s not a huge departure from previous games. In fact, it’s still a relatively long experience. The question is, why would Ubisoft cut the runtimes of its games by so much? The answer lies in our cultural obsession with game length.
This isn’t the first time Ubisoft has taken a gamble on shorter games. The gap between Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Valhalla was much shorter than the gap between the previous games, and Valhalla itself was shorter too. So if Mirage is also shorter, that’s actually a fairly consistent pattern.
Some players will probably be disappointed if they can finish Mirage in under a day, but that’s a cultural issue and not necessarily a game issue. The target audience for the series has grown up and has less time for longer games. If a shorter game like Mirage allows them to experience everything without consuming their lives, that’s a win.
The success of Mirage may also lead other AAA studios to question the importance of large map sizes and long runtimes. If a smaller studio like Ninja Theory can produce a high-quality game like Hellblade in a year, then a studio like Ubisoft can surely do the same with a large team and a lot more resources.
If Mirage sells well, it could show that gamers are willing to pay full price for shorter games. Shorter games could result in developers being able to release games more frequently, which is good news for gamers and game developers alike. The more frequent releases would be especially helpful to the live-service AC platform that Ubisoft is building.
Ultimately, the focus on game length not correlating with quality is something that gamers should take to heart. We’ll have to wait and see how Mirage is received in order to determine whether or not that shift in thinking is for the better. The hope is that Mirage’s success will encourage other studios to prioritize gameplay over length.
If you’re playing Assassin’s Creed Mirage, you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared for the harsh desert. Check out our essential Assassin’s Creed Mirage items guide to ensure you’re stocked up on supplies. You’ll also want to make the most of the map, so we’ve got a full Assassin’s Creed Mirage map location guide to help you out.
