Assassin's Creed IV modern-day setting is mostly optional, says Ubisoft

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag players will be required to leave the Animus five times throughout the game to take part in the game's modern-day setting, Ubisoft has said.

Game Director Ashraf Ismail said on the Ubisoft blog that players will be required to exit the Animus in order to progress the game's story, but that the mandatory modern-day sequences only take between three to four minutes each.

Set in Abstergo Entertainment, the present-day storyline in Assassin's Creed IV casts the player as an employee of Abstergo Entertainment, and features up to five hours of optional content.

"In total, if you were to do everything in the present day--find everything, hack every computer, access every room--it’s a solid three to five hours. For the main path--the stuff you’re required to do--it’s somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes," said Ismail. "You leave the Animus five times during the game’s main path and each time you’re there for about three to four minutes."

Assassin's Creed III spoilers follow.

Ismail adds that the optional content from Abstero Entertainment is used to say goodbye to Desmond after the events of Assassin's Creed III. "You have to hack computers and figure out how to access certain rooms and get through security. There is gameplay in just being able to access that stuff. When you access it, the content you find is a reward for us. Through this content you see what happens to Desmond after Assassin’s Creed III. We used it as an opportunity to say goodbye to Desmond. There’s actually a lot of stuff linked to him that you find." . On top of that, other cameos are promised in the game. "There are awesome cameos. Let’s put it like that," concluded Ismail.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U on October 29. PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC versions will follow in November.