Far Cry 4's map editor will not support competitive multiplayer levels at launch next week, Ubisoft has confirmed. Screencaps from an early version of the open-world game posted to the Ubisoft forums suggested this would be the case, and now creative director Alex Hutchinson has confirmed it.

Explaining why Far Cry 4's map making tools won't support head-to-head multiplayer levels, Hutchinson said some features don't make the cut due to the budget and timing concerns.

"I direct the game but I don't set budgets or timelines," he said. "We always squeeze in as much as we can, but we're always prioritizing."

It's possible that multiplayer map-making support could be added to Far Cry 4 through a post-release update, but he's not making any promises.

"We're going to keep supporting the game so hopefully we can get it done post release," he said. "No promises but we will try." Hutchinson added: "We try very hard to support the map making community, trust me. But there are millions of players who play the campaign only."

News that Far Cry 4's map editor won't have support for competitive multiplayer levels has led to a 131-page forum thread where fans of the series are voicing their displeasure. Some specifically took issue with the fact that previous Far Cry games did include the feature on day one.

One fan suggested Ubisoft actively removed the map-making tool from Far Cry 4, but Hutchinson said this is not true. "It wasn't removed: the MP was rebuilt from scratch," he said.

Far Cry 4 launches next Tuesday for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. For more, check out GameSpot's roundup of everything you need to know ahead of release.

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