Ubisoft held a special livestream dedicated to Ghost Recon to mark the franchise’s 25th anniversary. The bulk of the presentation centered on a substantial free update coming to Ghost Recon: Wildlands today, but the publisher announced plenty of other goodies for fans, including confirmation of the next Ghost Recon title.
Ghost Recon Wildlands, released in 2017, is getting a free story update today called Last Rites. The narrative centers on a mysterious masked antagonist named La Llorona, who seeks revenge against Bolivia’s cartels, the CIA, and Unidad for wrongs committed against her. Players will battle La Llorona’s cultists, Los Penitentes, to reach her in missions that feature challenging terrain, low visibility, and limited support.
The update also introduces the much-requested 4K resolution and 60 fps gameplay on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. This also comes alongside graphical improvements and new customization options. For example, players can now customize time of day and weather for missions, and adjust specific difficulty parameters without changing the template difficulty. That means you can play the game on an easy setting, but adjust enemy damage output and durability to make combat specifically tougher.
Last Rites has new features previously exclusive to Ghost Mode and other PvE modes, such as authentic reloading, the choice of having 1 or 2 primary weapons, and optional friendly fire. You can now deactivate highlight glow for interactable objects and the preview sightline of throwable items. Sounds to hidden UI elements are also muted for immersion. Wildlands is also receiving tons of free items, including unreleased camos, items previously exclusive to Mercenaries mode, new 25th anniversary items, and more. Lastly, the popular Predator mission, in which players battle the legendary sci-fi hunter, is making a return.
Ubisoft has also announced extended free weekends for Ghost Recon Wildlands and 2019’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Both titles will be free to play in full beginning today and running until August 10. Breakpoint is also getting a 25th anniversary bundle filled with special rewards. Ubisoft is also giving away 2012’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier for free; you can claim it by visiting Ubisoft Connect (you’ll need an account) and adding it to your library. You have until August 13 to do so. There’s also a 95 percent off franchise sale across PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, and Ubisoft Connect.
Lastly, Ubisoft briefly confirmed that the next Ghost Recon game is in development. “For the past few years, we’ve been building the next chapter of Ghost Recon,” says Ghost Recon live producer Irina-Gabriela Popa. “I’m really excited to share with you that now we’re ready to put it to the test, because we want to deliver a fun, fresh experience that stays true to everything that defines Ghost Recon: tactical action, large-scale operations, credible military storytelling, and of course, the Ghost Unit.” To help shape the game, Ubisoft is launching an Insider Program that grants early access to the game’s closed test and allows users to provide feedback and receive development updates.
