Game News “We are pushing our limits” The development of Assassin’s Creed Shadows broke a record for the series, a testament to immense ambition
On the eve of the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft spoke out in an interview. Yesterday’s promises have clearly been fulfilled, as the teams behind the next title set in feudal Japan have clearly pushed the boundaries of what they can do.
The desire to make Assassin’s Creed better
Assassin’s Creed Shadows, formerly known as Assassin’s Creed Red, has been long awaited. Scheduled for November 12th, no less than four years of development time will come to an end for the developers. So far, no other part of the Assassin’s Creed series has taken so long to develop, but why is that?
Believe it or not, it is not a question of budget or any concerns in the design or production of the game, quite the opposite. The reason lies essentially in the immense ambition to offer players the experience they deserve and that is exactly what Karl Onnée mentioned in his interview with GamesIndustry.biz.
We always want to do better, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do with Shadows. […] We are reaching the limits of what we can do.
During this interview we learned many things, including a concept that has been thrown in the trash: haste. Although there are uncertainties in a company, the development team expressed the desire to take the necessary time (within the company’s reasonable limits) to develop AC Shadows. And so four years passed; that may seem like a long time, but that is not necessarily the opinion of everyone.
Karl Onnée says that four years of development is actually a perfect balance to go from design to production. He explains that with more people, development would have taken less time, but that inevitably wouldn’t have given more time for iterating, gathering feedback from players and the team to see what works and what doesn’t, and analyzing how it’s possible to make improvements.
Overall, we see Assassin’s Creed Shadows as a true love letter; a project that has been carefully executed.
Create a universe that touches the public
In the same interview with GameIndustry, Karl Onnée also talked about the setting of Shadows. He said that the successful work on Assassin’s Creed Shadows was the result of the experience gained from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the strength of the hardware, the new version of the engine, but also a clear idea of what they wanted to do.
Ubisoft clearly wants to reach a wider audience with its new work, especially the Japanese. Authenticity, respect and learning were therefore the key words for this chapter.
We come from humble backgrounds, we know nothing and we have to learn everything from scratch (it’s about culture, architecture, etc.). We make sure to respect things because this is something very important for the Japanese, as for many other countries. […] We want to build something that when they see and play it, they recognize their own country.
The lush backdrops and larger-than-life panoramas were (among other things) the reasons that made players love Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. SO, We very much hope that the gaming experience and immersion in Assassin’s Creed Shadows will meet players’ expectations and will surpass the idyllic trip we experienced in Greece 6 years ago.
