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Ubisoft confirms next Assassin's Creed for Victorian London
The next major entry in the Assassin's Creed series will reportedly be set in London. According to sources close to Kotaku, the game will take place in the Victorian era, which makes some sense of the reported codename for the next rooftop-leaping game, "Victory." Expected to launch in fall 2015, Victory will seemingly be the first game in the series developed by Ubisoft Quebec, the studio named as the lead of the game by the publisher in July. The report also notes that Victory will be the only Assassin's Creed game to launch next year, and is not planned for previous-generation systems (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360). We've reached out to Ubisoft for comment, and will update as we learn more. Update: Ubisoft has confirmed the leak, offering the following comment: "It is always unfortunate when internal assets, not intended for public consumption, are leaked. And, while we certainly welcome anticipation for all of our upcoming titles, we're disappointed for our fans, and our development team, that this conceptual asset is now public. The team in our Quebec studio has been hard at work on the particular game in question for the past few years, and we're excited to officially unveil what the studio has been working on at a later date. In the meantime, our number one priority is enhancing the experience of Assassin's Creed Unity for players." [Image: Ubisoft]
New Assassin's Creed led by Ubisoft Quebec
Ubisoft Quebec is the lead studio on "a future Assassin's Creed," Ubisoft announced in a blog post. Ubisoft Montreal traditionally heads up development of Assassin's Creed games, in partnership with other Ubisoft studios, including Quebec. Ubisoft Quebec Managing Director Nicolas Rioux breaks down his studio's history with Assassin's Creed: "We were involved in Brotherhood. We were involved in Revelations. We were involved in Assassin's Creed 3. With AC 3 we were working on the biggest DLC for the franchise – The Tyranny of King Washington. After that we were also involved with Freedom Cry. We have the confidence of the brand team and also from Ubisoft to take leadership of an upcoming Assassin's Creed title. The team is ready for the next big step."
Ubisoft investing $28 million more in Quebec, adding 100 new jobs
Ubisoft is expanding its operations in Quebec with an investment of $28 million CAD ($25,266,816.09 USD) over the next three years. The goal is to fill 100 new positions focusing on AAA next-generation development at Ubisoft's Quebec City studio. The government will assist Ubisoft Quebec City's growth with $10,000 as part of the ESSOR program – the same program that also helped WB Games to set up shop within Canada's largest province. WB Games Montreal shipped its first AAA game last year, Batman: Arkham Origins. The Quebec City studio was formed in 2005 and has worked on entries in the Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia and Might and Magic series. Back in September, Ubisoft announced it would invest $362 million in Quebec over the next seven years, in the hopes of creating 500 new positions.
Ubisoft invests $362M in Quebec over 7 years, plans to add 500 jobs
Ubisoft is concentrating its American operations for online games in Montreal, Quebec, expecting to add 500 new jobs to the region by 2020. This investment over the next seven years focuses on online infrastructures and the expansion of Ubisoft's motion capture technologies, and it will bring Ubisoft's employee total in Quebec to 3,500. The 500 new jobs include standard video game production roles, along with "community and network management specialists, business intelligence analysts, mathematicians, telemetry experts, systems operators, and monetization and interactive marketing specialists," Ubisoft explains. It's a $373 million CAD ($362 million USD) investment overall. Tax breaks in Quebec make it sensible for Ubisoft to operate its American services from Canada. "We firmly believe in the importance of creative industries for our economy and are pleased to have been supporting Ubisoft since their arrival in Quebec, in 1997," Quebec Premier Pauline Marois said. "Their growth and concrete economic benefits for the Quebec nation are true sources of pride. The project announced today, bringing about important job creation, allows us to foresee success in the future."
Ubisoft Quebec City taps François Pelland as executive director
Ubisoft Quebec City has announced the appointment of new executive director of development Francois Pelland, who was most recently senior producer on Assassin's Creed 3 at Ubisoft Montreal. Pelland will "ensure the leadership of the innovation and creativity hub of Ubisoft Quebec" while "successfully delivering the ambitious projects being developed at the studio." "I'm very proud to have accepted the position of Executive Director of Development at Ubisoft Quebec," says Pelland in the press release. "For me, it's a unique opportunity to be part of this rapidly growing studio and to provide my support for the studio's ambitious projects in the years to come." Pelland has over 16 years of experience in video games, the lion's share of which were spent at EA and Ubisoft. Pelland founded EA Montreal and his work can be seen in the Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six and Army of Two series.
Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth demo assembles on Xbox Live
Ubisoft's Kinect-powered Hulk smash simulator Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth now has a free demo up on Xbox Live for Gold subscribers. The demo transports players to The Savage Land where they'll square off against Captain America Skrull and Magneto.Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth launches on Xbox 360 on November 9 and will launch on the Wii U some time during the console's launch window, which runs up until March.%Gallery-166874%
Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth on Kinect and Wii U from Ubisoft
Ubisoft and Marvel are partnering on an Avengers game for ... Kinect and Wii U? It's an unlikely pairing – the controller-free format and the format with a giant controller and an extraneous screen; but for a franchise that pairs a half-naked monster man with an armored plutocrat, perhaps it's appropriate.Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth is in the works at Ubisoft Quebec, and will allow players to use motion controls to fight off the alien Skrull. "The idea that we're making a motion-control version of 'The Avengers' is a unique proposition if you compare that to superhero games of the past," said Ubisoft marketing VP Tony Key, as reported by the Washington Post. "This is the perfect type of game for that because these characters are very action oriented. They're always fighting and throwing things." Those rowdy kids.As suggested by the Skrull invasion storyline, the game deviates from the movie, instead drawing from the "Secret Invasion" comic crossover event, which featured Skrulls posing as Earth superheroes.
Building a Revolution: The four teams behind Assassin's Creed 3
Ubisoft Montreal is kind of a big deal. Since being established in 1997, the company's first North American studio has been home to some of the biggest franchises in Ubisoft's entire portfolio: Splinter Cell, multiple Prince of Persia reboots, and Assassin's Creed.Ever since Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed 2 introduced Ezio Auditore in 2009, the number of studios working on the franchise alone has increased dramatically. For 2010's Brotherhood, four additional studios signed on for support: Singapore, Bucharest, Québec City, and Annecy. For 2011's Revelations, yet another was added (Ubisoft Massive), putting the total at six.For this year's Assassin's Creed 3, the army of studios has been restructured to four: Montreal, Annecy, Quebéc City, and Singapore."Annecy is still doing an evolution of the multiplayer," Creative director Alex Hutchinson explained to Joystiq. As we already know, Ubisoft Annecy is working on some form of -- potentially co-op -- multiplayer."There're a few things that are being done in the Québec studio. So there's an evolution there," he said. Despite prodding, he wouldn't reveal what specifically that tease meant. "We cannot talk about specifically what they are working on." The Québec studio assisted with level design (among other things) in the past two Assassin's Creed titles.Even though an army is attached to Assassin's Creed 3, it's Montreal that has been focused on the project for the past two and a half years. "80 percent of our team have come through from AC1, AC2. A lot of them didn't do ACB or ACR 'cause they were working on AC3," Hutchinson said. "The turnover has actually been scarily low for a franchise that's been going for seven years. You still have the same lead writer who wrote the first words on AC1, you have the same guy doing the navigation that did AC1.""At its core," Hutchinson said, "it is a Ubisoft Montreal game." He told us, "The thing with other studios is that they have different skill sets. At the end of the day, it's what makes it sometimes harder to manage the game, but it also makes the game richer." It's a formula that, thus far, has worked astonishingly well for Ubisoft. We'll find out if the company strikes gold once more this October when Assassin's Creed 3 launches.
Assassin's Creed 3: Rebuilding a series during the birth of a nation
Back in late 2009, creative director Alex Hutchinson and a handful of others started drawing up plans for what would become Assassin's Creed 3. In those two years, the team rethought core elements of the series: cities, combat, and the franchise's signature "free running" mechanic. Even the engine, Anvil, was examined and updated (now dubbed "AnvilNext").But before all of that, Hutchinson needed a setting and a character. He wouldn't tell us why or how he settled on the American Revolution (nor would he say what other ideas came up), but he did explain why he believes it'll be a success. "We really believe this is the strongest setting so far in an AC game. Why? Because we think it's the most relevant setting," he said during a group presentation. "This is the birth of the nation. But even for other countries, especially in Europe, it's a key historical event."By the way, for all his U.S pride, Hutchinson is an Aussie and he lives in Canada. We assume he's spent a lot of time watching Independence Day.%Gallery-151408%
Ubisoft Quebec adds a Longtail studio
Ubisoft has reached a deal to absorb 48 members of Longtail Studios Quebec into its own Quebec City studio, reports French-language outlet Le Soleil (Google translation). The acquisition will also result in a reported 5–6 staff layoffs and effectively closes Longtail's Quebec branch, though its New York headquarters and remaining studios are expected to remain in operation for now. Le Soleil claims that anonymous staff from the studio are pleased to now be working directly for a well-established developer -- plus they'll only have to move a few floors in their current office building, which they share with Ubisoft. The move comes just weeks after Longtail Quebec's studio director, Andreas Mollman, abruptly departed. The studio had most recently contributed to the development of Ubisoft's Michael Jackson: The Experience and other unnamed, but "key" Kinect projects, Ubisoft clarified in a short statement. The Quebec outfit represented about half of Longtail's total workforce, and the company will now shift the bulk of its development efforts onto its Halifax studio, director general Estelle Jacquemard confirmed. Jacquemard also denied suggestion that the company's future was in question, heralding the success of its most recent release, Dance on Broadway, and saying that ten new jobs would open up in the coming weeks. He also shot down rumor that Longtail's owner, Gerard Guillemot, has plans to get out of the games business altogether -- Gerard is indeed the brother of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot and a co-founder of the mega-publisher himself.
Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs Strike announced for Wii
Stegosaurus. Tyrannosaurus Rex. Lava. Deathmatch. That's all you really need to know. Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs Strike (known as Combat of Giants outside North America) is headed to the Wii in November. You might want to wait for the planned 3DS version though, so you can have all that awesome in your face. Now, continue forth to watch the greatest video game trailer ever made.%Gallery-99795% %Gallery-99794%
Prince of Persia Forgotten Sands launch trailer covers the bases
Here's the launch trailer for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. It's essentially a primer for anyone who has somehow missed the copious coverage of the game so far. Let's run down the bullet points, shall we? Platforming -- check! Puzzles -- got 'em! Combat -- yup. Elemental magic -- of course. Ancient, angry sand demon -- you'd better believe it! For those that require something more substantial than this primer before leaping into the Prince's latest adventure, watch out for our Forgotten Sands review -- which we'll remember to post tomorrow afternoon.
Don't forget to watch the PoP: Forgotten Sands intro
Pre-rendered game trailers may not do a very good job of preparing us for actual gameplay, but it's hard to beat good CG for setting the mood. Case in point: The intro trailer to Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. We've got the Prince, a mysterious woman, a massive battle, daring leaps and one of the faintest goatees in gaming history. See it all in the trailer above. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands hits consoles on May 18 with a PC version to follow in June.
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands trailer reminds us that Wii version exists
The Wii version of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is distinct from the other, HD consoles' version. In this new trailer, you can see some of the unique elements in play, including the ability to use the Wiimote pointer to place "sand rings" on solid objects, creating handholds for the Prince. The Ubisoft Quebec–developed Wii game does have a few things in common with the PS3 and Xbox 360 Forgotten Sands game, as well. For example, they're both pretty! Ubisoft has worked some magic of its own to render such fine visuals on the Wii. All versions of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands are set for the same May 18 release date.
Interview: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands' Michael McIntyre
Positioned as a new sequel to fan favorite Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Ubisoft Montreal's Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is a clear return to tradition. It diverges from 2008's cel-shaded scurrier in more ways than one: platforming is more difficult; the time rewind is back; and the adventure is entirely linear. Though the game showed promise at PAX East 2010, we couldn't help but ask Level Design Director Michael McIntyre what this familiar entry means for fans and the franchise. Joystiq: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands -- how is that being positioned to fans of 2008's game? Is it an apology? Michael McIntyre: Oh, not at all. Actually, this project was started before that game even released, so we had no idea how that game was going to be received. We knew that the PoP 2008 was a daring take on the Prince of Persia franchise. but we knew that there would be people that definitely liked it and we just weren't certain what fans of Sands of Time would take it, even though we knew it was quite different from Sands of Time. So, there was already an early plan to do a Sands of Time-type game, not at the same time but it was already in progress. %Gallery-80265%
