What is the Animus Hub in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
All the details on Ubisoft's new Assassin's Creed launcher
Confused about the Animus Hub in Assassin's Creed Shadows? Upon starting Assassin's Creed Shadows you'll be greeted with the Animus Hub, a unique interface based on the Animus virtual reality memory-accessing machine, which has been a part of the franchise's modern gameplay since the beginning. The Animus Hub acts as a launcher for Assassin's Creed Shadows and all other recent Assassin's Creed games, and using it might feel slightly unusual at first, especially if you own older titles. After all, you presumably bought AC Shadows to play as a shinobi and samurai in Japan - so why is this launcher suddenly prompting you to start Assassin's Creed Odyssey?
Since this launcher is set to define all AC games moving forwards, it's worth getting used to it early. In this guide, we'll give some quick explanations on all of the features in the Animus Hub in Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Assassin's Creed Shadows: Animus Hub explained
The Animus Hub is comprised of four sections:
Memories
This is the Games section of the Animus Hub. Here, you can launch all recent Assassin's Creed games, from 2017's Assassin's Creed Origins onwards. You'll be taken to Memories as soon as you load the Animus Hub, and selecting Access lets you open a particular game from the list, as long as you have it installed.
Projects
This is the Unlockable Content section of the Animus Hub. Here, you can view Projects and Anomalies. Anomalies are various missions that pop up on the map of Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Projects are the long-term rewards you get for completing those Anomalies. These include crafting materials, new equipment, Keys (a currency you can use in the Exchange section of the hub), and Encrypted Data Files (lore that you can view in the Vault section of the hub).
Exchange
This is the Marketplace section of the Animus Hub. You can exchange any Keys you earn for completing Projects here. Rewards include swanky new equipment. It's important to note that these are not microtransactions, since Keys can be acquired simply by playing the game.
Vault
This is the Narrative Content section of the Animus Hub. Here, you can investigate the modern day lore of Assassin's Creed via videos and any Encrypted Data Files you've unlocked by completing Projects. In the case of Assassin's Creed Shadows, the franchise's modern day revelations are communicated via a mysterious voice known as The Guide, which is a change when compared to previous entries in the series.
It's worth noting that the Animus Hub is not a stand-alone launcher like Ubisoft Connect or Steam. It only starts when you boot up Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ubisoft has said that there are no plans to make it stand-alone. You also need to be playing online to access all of the Animus Hub's various features aside from Memories.
In some ways, the Animus Hub is similar to the fancy launchers of other major gaming franchises, notably the Call of Duty series. It also seems to be the evolution of Ubisoft's old plans for a live-service platform dubbed Assassin's Creed Infinity. However, considering that it appears to be the new home for the bulk of Assassin's Creed modern day lore - which is receiving a reboot with AC Shadows - fans of the franchise owe it to themselves to engage with the Animus Hub as much as possible.
That finishes our guide on the Animus Hub in Assassin's Creed Shadows and all future Assassin's Creed games. For more on other quality-of-life features present in Assassin's Creed Shadows, take a peek at our guide on how to use photo mode and how to turn on guided assassinations.