INTERVIEW: JEAN-SEBASTIEN DECANT, UBISOFT
“Compared to ACII, the story was segmented and players could only do one thing and then another. So the freedom in Black Flagwas a big reward, which led to a lot of other decisions such as the seamless game world, where there are things to do all the time.”
ASSASSIN FREED
Of course, it doesn’t come as a surprise to see Ubisoft adopt a full open world environment in Assassin’s Creed, a series clearly capable of delivering such gameplay. Consumer demand for open world games is greater than ever. The UK charts are dominated by sandbox titles such as Grand Theft Auto V, Saints Row IVand Minecraft, which value letting players create their own path.
And Ubisoft is no stranger to producing these kinds of games. Assassin’s Creed IIIwas a step in the right direction, and some of its biggest IPs include Far Cry 3and upcoming blockbusters Watch Dogs and The Division.
Decant emphasises the value of having these IPs and the teams that worked on them within Ubisoft. “I think we can say that Ubisoft has a huge knowledge of making open world games. Working at Ubisoft Montreal, you have 3,000 people working in parallel on these games. You have people move from one team to another.
“If there is a cool feature of a game that’s proven interesting in one game and we see ways to adapt it for another, of course we will go for that. I myself worked on Far Cry 3and then jumped to Black Flag. “We are inspired by everything. Real life, TV, and of course, other games. When it’s something within
A BRAVE NEW WORLD
UBISOFT uses the 1717 Carribean setting of Black Flagto showcase this new open-world gameplay.
Based around three main cities: Havana, Kingston and Nassau, there are over 50 unique locations
for players to travel to and explore at their own pace. New additions to ACIV such as The Jackdaw and
the crafting system encourage users to experience the full extent of this in-game world as they wish.
Black Flag is the game of the
transition. We really built it around the current-gen consoles. Jean-Sebastien Decant, Ubisoft
“ 38 October 11th 2013
Ubisoft, it means that somebody not very far away can do it. So it’s really cool to be able to talk to that person or take a bit of their code. “It’s beyond just being inspired, it’s actually being able to talk to people and introduce new features to the game for the first time.” Launching on November 1st, Black Flagis one of the key titles leading the day one charge on both Microsoft and Sony’s next-gen consoles. But before the question can even be asked, Decant dismisses the notion that the imminent arrival of the next-gen will affect Assassin’s Creedon the current roster of machines. “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flagis the game of the transition. We really built it around the current-gen consoles. The focus was there and we really wanted to develop
something enjoyable on any platform. But a few years ago, we were studying the next-gen through PCs. That’s how we developed ACIV.
“At the moment, most of the communication is on next-gen because everyone wants to see it. But it’s not because we’re trying to hide the 360 and PS3 version. They’re very beautiful and they are pushing the machines to their max.” Decant summarises that moving forward, the publisher will adopt more of these vast open worlds using the power of the next-gen. “We’re going towards a place where we’re more connected and the social aspects of the game will be pushed. We’re aiming for more player urgency, a world where you’re able to create your own stories. That’s where we want to go.”
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