Assassin's Creed Origins has a violence-free educational mode letting players explore Ancient Egypt

Assassin's Creed Origins is to be given a free update adding a violence-free educational mode, which lets people explore Ubisoft's recreation of Ancient Egypt without having to slit any Templar throats or perform hay-based stunts.

Called Discovery Tour, the mode includes "dozens" of history lessons leading players through the enormous world, teaching them about everything from Cleopatra to mummification and, of course, the Great Pyramids.

It won't be released until early 2018, but the mode will be free to all players on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Assassin's Creed has always toyed with historical accuracy for the sake of its sci-fi inflected story, but the worlds created by Ubisoft have always tried to ground the crazier elements in realistic settings.

Over the years the swashbuckling adventure series has travelled around the globe, from the Holy Land of the Third Crusade to Renaissance era Italy to the Caribbean, Civil War-era America and Victorian London.

The games have always included plenty of text explaining the historical people and places that inspired them, but never in a dedicated mode such as this.

In a post announcing the mode, Ubisoft says: "Discovery Tour features dozens of guided tours curated by historians and Egyptologists... Players will be able to roam the entire game world without constraints or threats, exploring a sprawling landscape that includes Memphis, Alexandria, the Sand Sea, and the Giza Plateau at their own pace."

Origins marks the return of the franchise after it skipped a 2016 release to allow developers some breathing room and for the series, which had grown a little stagnant, to undergo some big changes upon its returns.

This means overhauled combat and traversal systems, in a game that goes back to the origins (get it!?) of the assassins guild and their age-old battle against the Templars.

Whether or not this is a ploy to get Assassin's Creed into schools and into the hands of children/potential buyers, it's a neat way to emphasise the educational aspects of a video game rooted in history. It's probably both, which is fine.