Highlights

  • Ubisoft is rumored to be implementing a 72-hour in-game time limit in Far Cry 7, adding a new layer of urgency and challenge to the game.
  • The time limit could be creatively integrated into gameplay through interactions and side quests that extend the timer, enhancing player agency.
  • To maintain the series' trademark open-world exploration, Ubisoft must find innovative ways to balance the time limit without limiting player freedom.

While official details about Far Cry 7's development have been few and far between, there's been no shortage of rumors and leaks concerning what gameplay and narrative directions Ubisoft plans to ply in the upcoming seventh mainline installment of the franchise. Far Cry 7's current rumors present a juicy trove of speculation since they give insight into what the developer could be planning. High on the list is the purported 72-hour in-game time limit to run through Far Cry 7's story, but for it to work smoothly, Ubisoft needs to find a way to let players impact the mechanic.

Although Far Cry 7's time limit isn't official news yet, it has become one of the hottest topics of discussion since the first rumors made the rounds. Going by these reports, players would have 72 in-game hours to complete the upcoming installment's plot. On the surface, the constraint seems disruptive to the traditional Far Cry experience, but it has a few implications that justify its potential inclusion. The raised stakes of a race against time to save innocents from the hands of Far Cry's antagonists can be hard to argue against, and Far Cry 7 would be better off letting players actively interact with the feature than simply serving as a looming cloud.

far cry 6 live action promo with giancarlo esposito seated as anton castillo
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Far Cry 7 Should Let Players Impact the Reported Time Limit

One of the first questions Ubisoft has to answer about Far Cry 7's time limit is how it can be interwoven into the overarching gameplay. It's easy to envision a scenario where players lose track of time while traversing through a world with dangers around every turn, so the developer has to keep the countdown front and center of the player's consciousness.

Ubisoft Has to Get Creative With the Countdown Timer's Visuals and Implementation

Placing a countdown timer at one end of the screen could be a viable option for players to reference, but there could be more creative ways of implementing this. For instance, the movie In Time placed characters' lifespans on their forearms, and a similar method of checking how much time is left in a playthrough seems more intuitive for Far Cry 7.

Beyond the challenges of visual implementation, however, lies a more significant issue for Ubisoft to tackle. Traditionally, Far Cry's settings have been one of the franchise's selling points -- environments that are so intriguing that it's not uncommon for players to deviate from the storyline to explore the open worlds. Far Cry 7's countdown timer threatens this essential stitch in the series' fabric if the developer doesn't give room for the mechanic to be manipulated.

Side Quests Could Provide an Answer to Ubisoft's Timer Problem

Far Cry 6 owed a lot of its success to its side quests, and these missions might prove pivotal in making the time constraint work in Far Cry 7. Instead of serving as mere lore-building opportunities, Ubisoft could let players take on these tasks to extend the timer beyond the limit. Deploying such a mechanism could scale in reward and difficulty, as harder tasks should add more hours on the clock for players to do other exciting things on the map while working towards completing the game.

For the time limit to live up to its potential, players have to feel like they're in charge of their destiny!

On the flip side, failing these side quests has the potential to eat precious minutes from the timer and accelerate the plot's end. As such, individual decision-making would add another flavor to the upcoming title's gameplay. Rather than a blanket 72-hour curtain for every player to adhere to, succeeding in missions and directly impacting the timer would resonate more with the franchise's modus operandi, especially since Far Cry 7 seems like it would be best experienced in multiplayer, based on the rumors. For the time limit to live up to its potential, players have to feel like they're in charge of their destiny, and Ubisoft has to figure out creative ways to let this happen.