Assassin's Creed

Lore & Background

The Ubisoft Montreal team decided to take the gameplay from The Sands of Time into an open-world approach, taking advantage of improved processing power to render larger spaces and crowds. Narratively, the team wanted to move away from the Prince being someone next in line for the throne and instead have him work for it. Combined with research into secret societies, they ultimately chose to focus on the Order of Assassins, based upon the historical Hashashin sect of Ismaili. They initially developed a story where the player would control an Assassin escorting a non-playable Prince, leading them to call this game Prince of Persia: Assassin, or Prince of Persia: Assassins. Additionally, in postulating what other assassinations they could account for throughout history, they came onto the idea of genetic memory and created the Animus device and modern storyline elements.

Reader's Guide

The series has received generally positive reviews for its ambition in visuals, game design, and narratives, with criticism for the yearly release cycle and frequent bugs, as well as the prioritising of role-playing mechanics in later titles. It has received multiple awards and nominations, including multiple Game of the Year awards. The franchise has expanded beyond main titles into spin-off games for consoles, mobiles, and handheld platforms, as well as art books, encyclopedias, comics, and novels.

Did You Know?

• The series' name 'Assassin's Creed' was suggested by Ubisoft's marketing division, playing off the creed 'nothing is true; everything is permitted' from the novel Alamut.
• The first Assassin's Creed game originated from ideas for a Prince of Persia sequel, initially called 'Prince of Persia: Assassin' or 'Prince of Persia: Assassins'.
• The modern-day storyline and Animus device were created after the team postulated how to account for assassinations throughout history using genetic memory.
• The series has evolved through three development periods, with period three launching with Assassin's Creed Shadows and introducing a new Animus Hub system.