Leaked Assets Reveal New Assassin’s Creed Set During French Revolution
It’s ‘bout that time of year again, folks. And here I was thinking we might actually slip into April without an Assassin’s Creed leak. Alas, I was wrong and should continue not to gamble.
The above images, and more, were sent in to Kotaku (the giant watermark may have given that away) by an anonymous contact. The leaked materials refer to this installment as Assassin’s Creed: Unity, though the moniker is likely a code-name – Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was called Golden Age throughout development in reference to the game’s pirate theme (i.e. the 'Golden Age of Piracy’).
Pairing hushed internet discussions and conversations with developers, Kotaku has pieced together a clearer picture of Unity to complement these very early-production screens. Unity takes place, at least partly, in 18th-century Paris, smack dab during the French Revolution. You’ll control a new assassin named Arno whose knack for parkour will be a step above his contemporaries’ thanks to new free-running mechanics.
We’ve caught wind of this rumor before but Kotaku again corroborates that Ubisoft intends on releasing not one, but two separate AC installments in 2014: one designed for current-generation systems and another specifically tailored for next-gen consoles. Unity would fall into the latter category, releasing for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The thought process behind the decision is actually shy of genius; it would mean Unity’s team can fully harness the power of next-gen hardware without the constraints of making sure the game runs on last-gen tech.
From a business standpoint, it appears particularly shrewd to double-up on a proven IP and go after both next-gen adopters looking to pad out their bare-bones libraries as well as the gigantic install base already established on PS3 and Xbox 360. Problem is, franchise fatigue can lay waste to a publisher’s best-laid plans.
I thought Black Flag was brilliant; my favorite sequel since ACII brought on the changes that would cement the series as a prime-time player. Yet I had a helluva time trying to convince my peers it was worth even playing, the malaise of “been there, done that” keeping them from revisiting the historically driven, free-running filled mythos of Assassin’s Creed.
Black Flag proved that Ubisoft understands the formula needs some shaking up to persist, and I’m interested to see if Unity follows suit and introduces a new way to strut around under the hood. We won’t have long to wait for more information, either. Unity and its unrevealed counterpart are said to release this Fall.