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Assassin's Creed 4 ships 11 million copies
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag shipped 11 million copies to date, including digital sales, Ubisoft revealed in its full-year 2013-2014 earnings report. That's one million more units than Ubisoft sent to retail as of February. It's the latest in the publisher's successful series, which achieved 73 million in sales as of last month. Ubisoft's next rooftop-running, throat-slitting game is Assassin's Creed: Unity, which was announced in March. The game takes place in Paris during the French Revolution of the 18th century, as was seemingly foretold through a scene in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. "We are extremely pleased that Assassin's Creed has become the fourth-biggest franchise in the industry," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said during the publisher's earnings call today, adding that the Assassin's Creed development team has been progressively growing the brand "into a regular 10 million-plus elite franchise." [Image: Ubisoft]
Report: Some Assassin's Creed 4 single-player content gated by Uplay passport
Those that pick up a brand new copy of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag will notice that the game comes with a Uplay Passport, Ubisoft's version of an online pass. While the passport typically grants access to online sections in the game, in the case of Assassin's Creed 4 it also unlocks small pieces of social content. Game Informer reports that the online pass locks away the game's fleet management system, in which players add vessels they board in the game to their fleet and send the ships out on missions to earn additional money. Players with second-hand copies of the game that don't plunk down $10 for a Uplay Passport are unable to manage their fleet, and since real-life friends are able to provide assistance to fleets, the management system is not an offline-only aspect of the game, even though it falls into the single-player campaign. We've contacted Ubisoft for comment on the game's Passport and will update as we learn more.
Assassin's Creed 4 has five hours of modern day play, most of it optional
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag will let you choose how much of the present day you want to explore, to a point. Game Director Ashraf Ismail revealed via the Ubiblog that the game will feature "a solid three to five hours" of gameplay that takes place at Abstergo, the sinister mega-corporation antagonist of the series. Most of the modern day gameplay is optional, however; only roughly 20 minutes will be required. "You leave the Animus five times during the game's main path and each time you're there for about three to four minutes," Ismail told the Ubiblog. While in the game's modern day setting, you'll play as an Abstergo programmer, researching protagonist and assassin-pirate, Edward Kenway. Dig through the company's files, and you can uncover information, including what's happened to Desmond. "You get to see what Abstergo Entertainment as a company is doing with your research. You get to see the progression of what they're trying to do, which is really fun," Ismail said. Software programmers and pirates don't tend to get along in the real world, but in Assassin's Creed 4, they apparently go together like peanut butter and jellyfish. No wait. Jelly. Just regular jelly.
Ubisoft and Nvidia form 'alliance' to give PC gamers a visual edge
Watch Dogs, Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag are going to look best on PC, thanks to an "alliance" formed between developer/publisher Ubisoft and graphics card manufacturer Nvidia, the two companies have announced. Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft, said that the partnership will allow Ubisoft to deliver "stunning" performance for new and upcoming games. "The PC remains one of the world's most popular gaming platforms, and we're committed to offering PC players the best possible experience with our games," Key said. So what does that mean for PC users? Fancy techno-jargon graphics options! Enjoy TXAA antialiasing, soft shadows, horizon-based ambient occlusion, and advanced DX11 tesselation! Need to upgrade your graphics card to take advantage? You can pick up Blacklist as part of a bundle when you purchase a qualifying GeForce GTX 660, 660 TI, 670, 680, 760, 770 or 780 graphics card. So there you have it: Ubisoft wants to give PC gamers the best versions of their games, and they've partnered with a major player in the hardware market to make it happen. Because they care.
Sony to offer 'discounted' upgrades to PS4 software on select titles for a limited time
During Sony's Gamescom briefing, Andrew House announced that PS3 players who purchase select software will have the ability to upgrade to the PlayStation 4 version for a "significantly discounted price." House confirmed a number of games will be available for the "limited time" offer, including Call of Duty: Ghosts, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Watch Dogs and Battlefield 4. Activision, Ubisoft, EA and Warner Bros. were noted as publishers partnering with Sony on the upgrade initiative. It's unclear if the program will be available worldwide. Unlike similar retailer offers revealed for Xbox One software earlier this week, Sony's plan is to offer the discounted games through its own digital storefront. PlayStation 4 launches in North America on November 15 and in Europe on November 29.
The Daily Roundup for 03.04.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag 'pushing hard' for more assassinations, less hand-holding
It has become necessary to ask about the prevalence of assassination in a series called Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft's massive franchise has grown to encompass different developers, protagonists, historical contexts, and design ideals. The central thrust of the hidden blade has been obscured by an ever-growing stack of systems, plots and economies, some of which suit the business of killing – and some that allow you to manufacture and sell barrels."Yes, we are a pirate game, and we advertise ourselves as a pirate game. It's even in our title," says Ashraf Ismail, Game Director at Ubisoft Montreal for Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. "But it's an Assassin's Creed game, and this is very important, because this is how we're able to build a pirate game. We have this really solid foundation that is the core and the heart of the experience. The story is about a guy who is an assassin and the conflict he goes through to become this guy. We actually have more assassinations than AC1 had."Following a presentation at Ubi's offices in San Francisco, Ismail explains the "older philosophy" of Assassin's Creed as an important consideration for Black Flag, even if appearances suggest otherwise. "This is something we did learn, we do listen to our fans a lot," Ismail says. "We know that in AC3 there was a lot more handholding done, and we do want to go back to an older philosophy where we just present you with a simple objective and we let you choose the gameplay you want."
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag confirmed for PS4
As the prior week's leaks suggested, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag will boast next-generation ports ... rendered by the PlayStation 4. (Here you go.)Speaking to Joystiq in San Francisco last month, Assassin's Creed 4 game director Ashraf Ismail said the AnvilNext engine, which powers Ubisoft's pirate game and debuted with Assassin's Creed 3 in 2012, was built for platforms beyond the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U.Ubisoft hasn't confirmed a launch date for the PS4 version yet, since the exact timing is entwined with Sony's guarded launch plans. All other versions of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag (that we know of) are due on October 29 in North America.
Assassin's Creed 4 dated Oct. 29, confirmed for next-gen consoles
Ubisoft's official Asssassin's Creed site reveals a launch date for Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag by use of some technical wizardry that involves replacing a letter in the URL.As DarkZero discovered, heading to the official AC4 site for the world premiere trailer, which will launch in four days, and then simply adding a "v" to the end of the url reveals the above image.The Ubisoft site notes an October 29 release date for AC4 and states it's "also coming to next-gen consoles." Sony announced the PlayStation 4 last week, Microsoft is expected to announce the next Xbox within a few months.
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag hoists new hero onto PS3, 360, Wii U, PC
Ubisoft has announced Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, which introduces a new coarse heir to the century-spanning action series. As you can gather from the artwork, the sequel shifts to the Caribbean in an era of piracy and formidable pistol-to-hand ratios. The game is so far confirmed for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U, with the PS3 version including "60 minutes of exclusive gameplay."Joystiq will have more information and opinions about Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag on Monday. We'd love it if you checked back then to learn about the game's protagonist, goals, and guiding principles. %Gallery-180118%
Next Assassin's Creed set for fiscal year 2014, new hero, new time period
A new Assassin's Creed game is coming in Ubisoft's fiscal year 2014 – that's between this April and March 2014 – and it's set to feature a new hero, a new team around him or her, and a new time period, CEO Yves Guillemot announced during today's earnings call. "In financial 2014, we will introduce an all-new Assassin's Creed hero, within an all-new team and time period, and we expect it to be another major leap forward for the franchise."The new series entry will be developed by multiple teams, each designated chronological chapters within the game. "It is the benefit of multiple teams, working on multiple chapters of the brand, each getting several years to make their versions of an Assassin's Creed game."Yves promises Ubisoft will offer more details "very soon."
