Ubisoft has confirmed that any future maps and modes making their way into For Honor will be free to download for all players.

"We don't want to split the community," game director Damien Kieken said during a presentation attended by Eurogamer.

"So everything that's matchmade [including] new modes and new maps, will be given for free to the players. We'll also have other free content. We are a big team supporting the game after launch."

It's worth noting this statement doesn't extend to new heroes, which could still be offered as paid DLC. Looking back to Rainbow Six Siege, also developed and published by Ubisoft, we saw something similar happen there, with its maps made available for free, while the operators themselves needed to be unlocked using one of two currencies: renown (earned in-game) or credits (purchased with real money). This system worked well for Siege, which launched small but over time grew to 10 million players.

We've already seen For Honor's in-game currency, called Steel, during our time with the closed Alpha. Players earn a small amount after each match, which can then be spent in a virtual store. However, it now sounds like you'll be able to buy this currency with real cash as well.

"On the monetisation side," said Kieken. "The idea is that we allow players to buy more Steel. It's just a shortcut. Everything is unlockable just by playing the game. And all shortcuts are tied to progression, so you can't unlock an end-game item right away."

For Honor will launch with 12 maps, with future add-ons likely tied to the game's Faction War mechanic. What's that? Excellent question. Pop over to our preview if you fancy reading about it, plus some early impressions of the game's single-player campaign.

Actually, before that, let's all take a moment to think about the fact that For Honor's in-game currency is actually called Steel. Just 'Steel'.