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Assassin's Creed Brotherhood producer envisions more multiplayer for franchise
While some still lament the addition of multiplayer to the Assassin's Creed franchise, it seems likely that the online features of Brotherhood will be revisited in future iterations of the series. Speaking to Videogamer, associate producer Jean-Francois Boivin addressed why fans are so opinionated on the subject. "I think there's this dichotomy in the gaming world, that ... people who are sold to single-player don't necessarily care about multiplayer," he explained. "The wink we give to that in our universe is that the single-player [game] is Assassins, and the multiplayer is The Templars. I think in the end we're giving a lot to the single-player, because we're giving a full single-player campaign - so they won't feel cheated with Brotherhood." Boivin hopes that the addition of a competitive angle to the Assassin's Creed universe will open up the series to a new audience, beyond fans of the single player experience. "Hardcore multiplayers might say 'I'm going to try this multiplayer. Hey, this universe is kind of cool! I might look into the single-player,'" he mused. But will we see multiplayer in Assassin's Creed 3 (or whatever the next title might be)? While not a confirmation, Boivin admitted that "there's a lot of room for expansion in that universe," and envisions "a multiplayer component being there for a long time." Presumably, that would mean about two years from now.
Assassin's Creed producer not surprised by Desilets' departure
On the eve of E3, Patrice Désilets, creative director of the Assassin's Creed franchise, unexpectedly left his position, just as Ubisoft prepared to woo the media with the first in-depth look at this November's Brotherhood sequel. Looking to quickly bury the distraction, Ubisoft called Désilets' departure a "creative break" and said that his work on Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was "essentially done." While we still have yet to hear from Désilets himself, his close colleague, associate producer Jean-Francois Boivin, was not surprised by the creative director's leave. "I totally got where he was coming from because he's been talking about taking a break for a long time," Boivin told UK-based GamerZines. "In regards to Brotherhood, he did everything that he needed to do," Boivin assured, echoing Ubisoft's initial statement. "Patrice is a very public figure for the franchise, and he's very much the visionary for the Assassin's Creed license, but he's not the only visionary. It wasn't Patrice who did game design necessarily, and we have over two hundred very talented and creative people that work on the license." "We know what we're doing," Boivin insisted, addressing concerns that the series would be lost without Désilets, who had shepherded it for six years. "I'm not at all afraid of the future quality of Assassin's Creed games." Earlier this week, the producer was also not afraid to admit that the franchise could use a break after Brotherhood's release this fall. As for Désilets plans? "Right now he's watching the World Cup," Boivin said. (The World Cup ends following Sunday's final.) "Who knows what the future will hold for him."
One vote at Ubisoft for giving the Assassin's Creed franchise a year off
"I don't think there's going to be an Assassin's Creed in 2011," Ubisoft associate producer Jean-Francois Boivin told Eurogamer. "I think we're going to let it breathe a bit and really focus on bringing something new and exciting for the next time around." Since the release of Assassin's Creed 2, we've seen the release of three Assassin's Creed games, with two more on the way. Boivin seems justified in being concerned with franchise fatigue, even citing the case of music games like Guitar Hero, whose releases Activision has pledged to curtail. "Honestly, I think for the benefit of everybody – and business can come back and override everything I say because at the end of the day it's about selling games," Boivin said, "I believe that this license needs a breather. You can't plough a field every year. Once every three years – or once every something – you have to let it breathe." We think he's right about one thing -- that the corporate side of the company can override even the best creative decision to sell some games. Which is exactly what's going to happen in 2011.
