Pre-E3: Ubisoft Promotes New IP With Assassin’s Creed

Ubisoft has announced that Ubisoft Montreal, the studio responsible for franchises such as Prince of Persia and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, is developing Assassin’s Creed for the PlayStation 3, as part of a commitment to new intellectual property. The company has announced that it will be introducing three new IP franchises every two years going forward, and the company seems poised to make good on this at E3 next week. Assassin’s Creed, which is being billed as the first game in a series, and is due out in 2007, has players taking on the role of an assassin named Altair in 1191 AD during the Third Crusade. According to Ubisoft, the game will allow players to "to shape events during this pivotal moment in history." The company first discussed the franchise during the 'Defining The Assassin' lecture at this year's Game Developers Conference in San Jose, during which the game's Creative Director Patrice Desilets showed the audience a reference video montage they used for the actions and scenarios that they would like to see in this game. Among the clips were scenes from Raiders of the Lost Art, Braveheart, the French film Banlieue 13 featuring noted traceur David Belle, Japanese anime action scenes, and American football game video game clips, echoing the kind of visceral but graceful action intended to debut in the game. Serge Hascoet, chief creative officer at Ubisoft, continued, “Ubisoft has established itself as a creative force in the video game industry by developing new intellectual property and turning it into multimillion-unit selling brands. Our goal to introduce three new brands into the marketplace every two years is working. With Assassin’s Creed we’re introducing a franchise that will establish itself as the must-have next-generation game for the next-generation gamer.”