The Ubisoft 8: IGN's most reliable annual tradition since 2012

There exists somewhere in IGN's offices — perhaps in a locked drawer, perhaps tattooed on an editor's forearm — a sacred document. It reads: 'If Ubisoft, and if open world, then 8/10.' This immutable law of nature has held since approximately 2012, surviving staff turnover, office relocations, a global pandemic, and the complete erosion of the phrase 'open world' as a meaningful descriptor.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is a 20-hour game padded to feel like 25, set in a map dotted with the same seven activity types copy-pasted across Baghdad like wallpaper samples. IGN called this 'a triumphant return to the series' stealthy roots.' Magnifique. What roots? The series has had more identity crises than a method actor. Last year it was an RPG. Before that it was a Viking simulator. Now it's 'back to basics,' which in Ubisoft terms means 'we ran out of budget for the RPG systems but kept all the towers you need to climb.'

The review spends three paragraphs praising the 'gorgeous' open world — the same open world that every Ubisoft game has shipped since Far Cry 3. Towers to synchronize. Eagles to deploy. Minimap icons to compulsively chase like a golden retriever following tennis balls. At what point does a reviewer acknowledge they're reviewing the same game for the ninth time? The answer is never, because acknowledging the formula would require IGN to score it honestly, and an honest score for Ubisoft's assembly line would be somewhere around a 6.5 — a number that doesn't exist in IGN's Ubisoft vocabulary.

An 8/10. Naturally. The Ubisoft 8 is not a score. It is a diplomatic treaty between a publisher and a publication, renewed annually, broken never. Somewhere, a Ubisoft executive sees that 8 and nods slowly. The content pipeline is secure for another fiscal quarter.