TOKYO: Assassin’s Creed makes its worldwide debut on Nov 11 in the US, allowing players to exercise deadly skills on the streets of Paris during the French Revolution.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity is the latest installment of the annual, history-based action franchise from French gaming developer Ubisoft. “I was surprised how realistic it could be,” Ubisoft chief and co-founder Yves Guillemot said.”From the street names to how it was before compared to how it is now, you are really more into the details when it is your own city,” he said.
Billed as the most “dense and immersive” version of the hit franchise ever created, Assassin’s Creed: Unity casts players in the role of a young man who grows into a master assassin and helps shape the fate of France. “We have been working with lots of people to try to get the spirit of the French Revolution — what happened and why it happened,” Guillemot said.
Initially launched in 2007, Assassin’s Creed has sold more than 78 million units worldwide, making it one of the top-selling video game lines worldwide.
It is Ubisoft’s most popular franchise, with a new installment released each year.”Assassin’s Creed is certainly one of the annual powerhouse franchises, and it has quite a following,” said game industry analyst Scott Steinberg of technology.
Steinberg credited Assassin’s Creed with inspiring other games, such as Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor recently released by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment.
The analyst referred to Assassin’s Creed as a “tent-pole” franchise for Ubisoft when it comes to revenue. The company reported last month that sales topped expectations in the first half of its fiscal year, bolstered by success of its new Watch Dogs game and a “firm back catalogue,” including Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag released a year ago.
The prior version of Assassin’s Creed put players in the boots of a bold pirate and tapped into mobile devices to expand play.
The new installment of the game also lets people expand play to smart phones or tablets using “companion apps.”
“Ubisoft is one of the more forward thinking publishers when it comes to pushing things in new directions, like mobile,” Steinberg said.
The franchise has grown to include novels, comic books, mobile games and films.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity is tailored for play on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or personal computers powered by Windows software and will sell for US$60 (RM200.
