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Ubisoft founds motion picture division, vows to keep Jake Gyllenhaal working
Quick show of hands: how many of you like playing video games? And how many of you would like to watch movies based on video games you've played? No doubt slightly more sophisticated market research went into Ubisoft Motion Pictures, the game maker's unique approach to adapting games like Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell for film and TV, meaning we'll finally see movies about assassins. Last year's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time film grossed $335 million worldwide, surely thanks to Jake Gyllenhaal's smoldering yet boyish intensity, and the French game publisher clearly wants a bigger slice of Hollywood pie -- it also recently bought visual effects studio Hybride Technologies. You might as well get in line now for Battle Tag: The Movie.
Assassin's Creed reveal campaign reactivated, third teaser clip appears
You remember that crazy Assassin's Creed teaser site that Ubisoft briefly launched late last week before pulling it down and pretending nothing happened? Turns out the French publisher is interested in promoting its next AC game after all, as the Facebook posting has reappeared and a trio of teaser videos are now available (found after the break). The latest of the videos shows what appears to be the first Assassin's Creed's main protagonist, Altair, though the only portion unobscured with distortion is -- naturally -- his hidden blade. Some vaguely Assassin's Creed 1-looking buildings can also be seen in the upper left corner, potentially hinting at a return to the Middle Eastern setting for the next game in the series. Folks interested in helping speed the reveal process for the next game can choose from a variety of social media-tied means to assist, though the progress bar for the reveal is reflecting just a four percent completion as of right now. While we're really interested in finding out what the next AC game is, we'd never outright suggest spamming your Facebook/Twitter for game reveal countdowns. We'll just say this: Do what you think is right.
Ubisoft calls on the community to reveal next Assassin's Creed game [update]
Ubisoft is gearing up to reveal the next Assassin's Creed game, launching a teaser site where fans can either e-mail, Tweet or post messages to Facebook to help speed up the unveiling. As of right now, the activity monitor on the teaser site only shows 3% progress, so it would seem we're quite a ways off from an official reveal. Ubisoft production manager Azaïzia Aymar has been responding to questions on Twitter and generally laying down the fine print: Ubisoft is monitoring all use of the #ACReveal hash tag, though he says to go through the teaser site to ensure that your "action" is tracked. What do you guys think the new game will be called? We've got a poll past the break, if you're interested. Update: The teaser site has since been pulled. We'll leave the link in for posterity's sake. (Or the off-chance the site actually comes back online.)
PlayStation Plus members getting free Sonic 2, Dungeon Hunter discount
The PlayStation Blog has revealed the next round of perks lined up for PlayStation Plus subscribers, including free games, some exclusive deals and one big full game trial. First up, the free stuff: The Trophy-supported version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will be free to Plus members as of next Tuesday, April 5, as will Duael Invaders, the PSN minis shmup. Members will also get a free "Men of Yakuza 4" theme and a Crane Dance theme, both on April 12. Sony's also offering up discounts for Plus members, including Stardrone for $4, Hamsterball for $3.99 and the upcoming Dungeon Hunter: Alliance action RPG for $9.74, a few bucks off the standard $12.99 price. Finally, on April 12, Plus members will have access to a full game trial of the first Assassin's Creed, just in case you've never played Altaïr's original adventure. (Spoiler: it's good, but the sequels are much better.)
Ubisoft survey gauges interest in Assassin's Creed, Ghost Recon films
A survey floating around seems to suggest Ubisoft is entertaining the idea of bringing some of its franchises over to the big screen -- specifically, Assassin's Creed and Ghost Recon. The above image was submitted to Evil Avatar, which says the survey is geared the toward finding out what would most make those taking it want to see movies based on the franchises -- Ezio, Subject 16 and the like. While we feel the world would probably be just fine without another war flick, we'd be all for an Assassin's Creed movie, granted that the project wasn't entirely about making money but also making a good movie. We're probably being a bit naive, though.
Steam has Ubisoft hits on sale this weekend; Impulse has Medal of Honor
Whether you're in the mood for shooting or shooting, Steam and Impulse have your back this weekend. Active now, Steam's offering Assassin's Creed, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Far Cry 2 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 in a bargain $3 bundle; while Impulse has Medal of Honor for $15.
AC: Brotherhood murders always-on DRM, stalks PC on March 22
Ubisoft has confirmed with Joystiq that the PC version of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood will be playable in offline single-player mode after an initial login, quelling fears that Brotherhood would employ the same restrictive DRM as Assassin's Creed 2. Additionally, the PC version of Brotherhood will arrive on March 22 (a few days later than the previously suggested date). You may want to use those few extra days to sharpen your cutlery and brush up on your Italiano -- or, like, go to the Olive Garden for dinner or something. Ubisoft has also detailed the technical specifications (posted after the break) required to play Brotherhood on a PC, as well as two retail versions of the PC release: a standard edition for $50, which includes the two multiplayer updates and the Da Vinci Disappearance DLC; and a digital-only "Deluxe Edition" for $60 that adds two extra multiplayer characters, two single-player maps, an extra skin and "additional multimedia content." %Gallery-117334%
Ten Gameloft games available at Xperia Play launch
We've heard plenty of numbers regarding Sony's Xperia Play launch games, but few details about what each of its 20 supporting publishers have planned. Gameloft has cleared the air and filled 10 of the potential 50 launch game spots. Beyond Asphalt 6: Adrenaline and Star Battalion, you'll see Assassin's Creed, UNO, Let's Golf! 2, Spider-Man: Total Mayhem, Modern Combat: Black Pegasus, Real Football 2011, Brothers in Arms 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction at launch on March 29. Trailers for the two packed-in games, Asphalt and Star Battalion can be found after the break, both of which were briefly shown during Sony's (leaked) Superbowl commercial. None of the games have been priced yet.
Jade Raymond optimistic of new studios, IP development
Ubisoft Toronto Managing Director Jade Raymond's presentation at DICE expressed her belief that despite the current upheaval in the industry, she believes now is a great time to start a studio. Referencing EA Sports boss Peter Moore's speech about the industry being on a "burning oil platform" -- the idea being that it only changes when it has to -- Raymond believes it's more like a burning oil tanker that can course correct. One would hope she'd be optimistic about current core development being viable, considering she manages, what will become in time, one of the biggest studios in the industry. In terms of IP development, she explained that the Ubisoft team spent a year of pre-production building the foundations of the Assassin's Creed franchise. "We spent quite a bit of time during conception thinking about the franchise metastory and story arc. And, most importantly, thinking of how to make sandboxes that future game teams and future teams in other media would be able to experiment and come up with their own stuff in this franchise." Regarding the ability to do Assassin's Creed comics, TV or a movie down the road, "You'll never get the best out of people if you just hand them this stone tablet." Clearly showing her roots working on The Sims Online, it's quite obvious Raymond is a disciple of Will Wright's ideas about fan involvement in franchises. "I think you need to rely on fans," believing that the fan community will identify the best ideas to work from. She Iterated a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson for the video game industry: Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small franchises. Raymond made clear that Assassin's Creed was designed as a franchise that could be handed over to professionals to expand the world, she said that the next IP Ubisoft is creating in Toronto will hopefully be "handed over to fans."
Ubisoft's 'Massive' studio 'teaming up' on an Assassin's Creed project
Back in 2008, Ubisoft picked up Massive Entertainment, along with the rights to the studio's acclaimed World in Conflict series. Shortly afterward, the studio's founder departed and that was the last we heard of the studio ... until today. Ubisoft's official Twitter account revealed that the Swedish studio is "teaming up on a project for Assassin's Creed." A new Assassin's Creed game is due next year, despite the objections of some -- could Massive be working on that? Are they working on the upcoming 3DS game, Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy? Job openings on Ubisoft's employment site suggest an MMORPG is currently in development at Massive, but there really aren't any other details to go on at this time. We've followed up with Ubisoft for comment.
Assassin's Creed: The Fall comic #2 out now
Good news for fans of stabbing and comic books (a bigger audience than you might think): Assassin's Creed: The Fall issue two is now available in comic shops. Lest you haven't been keeping up, The Fall tells the story of mustachioed assassin Nikolai Orelov, who operates during the Russian revolution. Look out -- he'll stab you right in your warm, furry hat.
Assassin's Creed 'Beautiful Lies' music video loves its lineage
The case for Desmond, Altair, and Ezio sharing the same gene pool has never been stronger than in this fan-made music video starring all three. Be aware of some story spoilers, particularly if you haven't completed Assassin's Creed or its first sequel.
Assassin's Creed Ascendance is an animated short, coming Nov. 16
After teasing the project yesterday, Ubisoft has fully unveiled the particulars of UbiWorkshop's next project, Assassin's Creed Ascendance. The short animated film will serve as a primer into the shady, conspiratorial dealings of 16th century Rome, and will be released on XBLM and PSN next Tuesday, November 16 -- the launch day of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Check out the full trailer for the short after the jump. Ubisoft promises the film "bridges the narrative gap" between the series' last installment and its fraternal sequel -- however, with a suggested MSRP of $1.99, we're not sure how many people are going to spring to purchase it. Especially not since we can bridge that gap for you, right now, for free: Some people with names you can't pronounce stabbed each other. You're welcome.
Assassin's Creed Ascendance kind of revealed a little bit
The next project from Ubisoft's non-traditional development branch UbiWorkshop has been slightly unveiled: A brief teaser trailer posted after the jump seems to preview a motion comic titled Assassin's Creed Ascendance. At least, we're assuming it's a motion comic -- a post on the UbiWorkshop site confirms that it's not a game, and, as far as we know, images in standard books and graphic novels don't ... um, move. UbiWorkshop promises that more details about Ascendance will drop "really, really soon." We'll let you know once the true identity of the project is announced, though we stand entirely by our assertion that it will not be a book with moving images, because those definitely haven't been invented yet.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood goes gold, new trailer goes to Rome
Ubisoft has announced that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is "gold" -- i.e., it's on the way to the factory where it gets turned into thousands of silver discs and shipped to stores, where it will go on sale November 16. To accompany the news, a new montage trailer is out. Hit the break to view it.
PSA: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood beta available to PlayStation Plus members
If you're a PlayStation Plus member, you can get into the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood beta now! Originally available to pre-orderers and "select" PlayStation Plus subscribers, Sony and Ubisoft have opened up the beta to all those who have paid their dues to Plus. So now the service is good for Hulu Plus, discounts on Cho Aniki ... and this. We say you can get in "now," but the beta client is a 2,806 MB download, so you can start the process of getting in now, and actually play the game some time tomorrow.
Assassin's Creed Facebook game arrives Oct. 1, interacts with Brotherhood [update: live now]
Leading the charge of what Ubisoft is calling "companion games," Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy will launch on Facebook tomorrow, October 1 immediately (guess it just couldn't wait). The strategy title, described as being similar to Mafia Wars, will "unlock extra content" in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, which hits on November 16, in addition to providing a way to gain bonus XP in the console game. On the flipside, playing Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will "unlock up to 25 exclusive missions" in the Facebook game, as well as experience and in-game currency. It's what Ubisoft is calling a "virtuous cycle." Hey -- isn't that what Big Boss went on in Snake Eater? Oh. Guess not.
Assassin's Creed artwork being showcased in Paris gallery
Parisian gallery Arludik will feature concept art created for the Assassin's Creed series during the month of October. "Assassin's Creed L'Exposition" will run from October 5-30 and features 35 pieces of original concept art. Ubisoft claims the canvases have been appraised between €600 ($820) and €2,000 ($2,725). If you'd like to own a piece of the exhibit, two pieces were selected to have a limited run of 149 lithograph prints. Those will go on sale, likely in the limited edition section of the gallery's website, for €80 ($110). Those pieces will come with a certificate of authenticity and will be hand-signed by Ubi's graphic art director. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to MO5, an organization seeking to preserve the history of video games.
Gameloft breaks 20 million paid apps
Gameloft has announced that it has broken the 20 million download mark across all of its paid apps. That's a huge number, and it shows that the company has really latched on to the iPhone as a huge market for its mobile games. Gameloft hasn't been slow on development at all -- the French company has released 47 games this year, and of those, 42 have hit the Top Grossing top five, and 25 have reached number one. Gameloft hits from the past include Hero of Sparta, the remade Oregon Trail, FPS title NOVA, and the mobile version of Assassin's Creed. They're not done yet -- Dungeon Hunter 2 is due out later on this year, as is the HD version of Assassin's Creed, and an interesting title called Star Battalion. Gameloft's titles are always very well made, and it's good to see that its popularity has landed it a spot in the growing pantheon of successful App Store developers and publishers.
SpeedGamers run an Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia marathon for the Gulf
The SpeedGamers are taking on a couple of Ubisoft action platformers this weekend to help raise some money for the oil-stained Gulf of Mexico. They started up on Friday afternoon, and are running a marathon playthrough of both Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. As usual, you can watch the whole marathon streamed online all weekend long, and the 'Gamers will be raising money for the Gulf Restoration Network, which could probably use a little extra cash after all of the, you know, mess down there. The marathon will run for three straight days, up until August 24, and as this post is written, they've already raised over $1000, and are currently auctioning off ... the chance to see a guy dressed as a Final Fantasy X character? Listen, those SpeedGamers may be strange folks, but they're doing Altaïr's work over there. Djinn bless 'em.
