United We Stand? - Two Assassin's Creeds Coming This Fall
Assassin's Creed Unity being made by, no joke, ten studios
When you look at the Assassin's Creed series from a standpoint of raw numbers, things gets a little preposterous. I don't mean sales, either. It's well-documented that Hoods and Handspikes is basically this generation's Shoots and Ladders. No, I'm referring to less publicized stuff, like the number of people who work on these ceaselessly cascading historical murder romps. Assassin's Creed IV had all of its ships crammed into a single bottle by 900 some-odd people, the series' latest main entry, Assassin's Creed Unity, is apparently being put together by ten studios working in conjunction. Unity indeed.
It'll be out this fall alongside another, still-unnamed series entry aimed at the previous "gen" of consoles. I wouldn't be shocked if that ended up on PC as well, though.
Ubisoft officially revealed Unity's development details as part of its most recent bout of financials. It's going to be PC, PS4, and Xbone-only, so expect "amazing next-gen graphics" to compliment its French Revolution Paris setting.
For those curious, the ten studios involved in its development are Ubisoft Montreal, Toronto, Singapore, Quebec, Annecy, Shanghai, Chengdu, Kiev, Montpellier, and Bucharest. Quick, someone bring back The Animaniacs so they can write a song about it!
The other game, meanwhile, is shrouded in mystery aside from news that it exists and will release this fall. Rumors, however, peg it as Assassin's Creed Comet, in which you play as a Templar named Shay and run around New York circa 1758.
So yes, two same-year entries in an already annual franchise. Honestly though, it's not that much different from how Ubisoft's been running its ship for the past couple years. Only difference is, spin-offs now focus on previous-gen consoles instead of handhelds. That said, I'm still a bit concerned. Assassin's Creed hasn't exactly been a bastion of consistency over the years, so who knows what we'll get this time? Maybe it'll be a wonderful departure from the norm like Black Flag was, or maybe it'll reestablish the dull, land-bound status quo.
Or maybe this is all just a ruse and it'll be set in space.