FRANCHISE FOCUS: ASSASSIN’S CREED
Brotherhood may not be Assassin’s Creed III, but it’s definitely not a lazy ‘2.5 release’ either, says Sanghera
ancestor, time period and location warrants a new iteration. I think there was some initial confusion early on when we first announced the game, but now we’ve communicated on the full extent of what the game has to offer, we’re confident that both the media and the fans are behind us.
The multiplayer sounds similar to the cat and mouse style of Splinter Cell. Has that brand informed how you’ve crafted Assassin’s Creed’s multiplayer? The multiplayer has been in development for the past three years at Ubisoft Annecy, who also worked on the hugely innovative Spies vs Mercs multiplayer in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theoryand Pandora Tomorrow. Ubisoft Annecy is one of the few teams in the industry that can innovate outside of the conventions of shooters and driving, by taking the elements of the solo experience and distilling those down into multiplayer modes that stay true to Assassin’s Creed.
Assassin’s Creed has been a good ‘trade-in game’ because people can complete it inside a week. Was the decision to do multiplayer something of a reaction to that, to ensure people hold onto it for longer? Whilst the first Assassin’s Creed saw a certain amount of trade-in, it wasn’t something we experienced to the same extent on Assassin’s
Creed 2. In fact, that game remained full price at retail until March this year. The multiplayer has been in development for some time and isn’t a reaction to this. It’s a considered extension to the game, which, judging by the reaction to the current PS3 Beta, has delivered a great experience unlike any other multiplayer available.
“ November 2009
Assassin’s Creed II released. Gets a Metacritic score of 90/100 Matches sales of original.
November 2009
Assassin’s Creed II: Discoveryreleased on DS. Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines released on PSP.
Jan/Feb 2010
Two downloadable content packs released for
Assassin’s Creed II, filling in the
missing 12th and 13th memory sequences in the game.
May 2010
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood announced, and is to follow-on from the events of ACII. Sales of ACII reach “almost nine million” worldwide, according to Ubi.
July 2010
Ubi reveals there will be no new Assassin’s Creedin 2011. “You can’t plough a field every year,” says Ubisoft Montreal’s Jean-Francois Boivin.
Will there be a different marketing focus this time, and who is your primary audience? Our marketing plans have been set for some time and will be in full flow
The Brotherhood campaign is the biggest we’ve worked on and is more akin to an FMCG launch.
Jan Sanghera, Ubisoft
by the time this article goes to press. Whilst our primary audience will always remain gamers, we feel that the time is right to broaden our reach towards a mainstream market. Simply put, it is the biggest campaign we’ve worked on at Ubisoft and is much more akin to an FMCG product launch than a traditional game. As you may be able to tell, I’m seriously excited about the launch of Brotherhoodand the campaign that will support it.
October 2010
Assassin’s Creed II released on Mac - the first in the series to hit the Apple platform.
November 2010
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood released on PS3 and 360. PC
version to follow in March.
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