Ubisoft Veteran: ‘One of the Most Underestimated’ Assassin’s Creed Games Tried Doing Too Much

If you were playing Assassin’s Creed in 2014, you’ll remember Unity, the technological marvel that heralded Ubisoft’s full-bore leap into the new generation of gaming. It boasted an immense slate, including co-operative gameplay mechanics, massive crowds, advanced parkour, and better visual clarity than we’d ever gotten in the franchise to date.

Unfortunately, what was delivered was so flawed that it pushed Ubisoft to give paid DLC away for free as an apology, and Assassin’s Creed Unity became a laughing stock online. Do you remember the screenshots of folks without faces? Now, the game’s lead has spoken up about the game, admitting that the team bit off more than they could chew with Unity.

Unity Could Have Been Incredible

Assassin’s Creed: Unity wasn’t a bad game after a few patches, and it’s still well worth playing. It introduced Arno Dorian, a French assassin living in the heart of Paris, which immediately became one of the most detailed and thriving worlds Ubisoft had ever built.

It was also the introduction of content bloat, with the game having a vast plethora of side content, collectibles, main missions, expansion content, microtransactions, multiplayer missions, and much more. That was all on top of the technical evolutions that made it a true next-generation title for the Assassin’s Creed series.

In a recent interview with Retro Gamer magazine, that concept was floated by Jean Guesdon, a Ubisoft veteran who led the charge on Unity. He’s now the Head of Content for the Assassin’s Creed brand at Ubisoft, and he admitted that too much was piled on all those years ago:

Sadly, Unity’s launch was a huge challenge because of several reasons.

ike AC3 with AnvilNext, Unity’s development was impacted by the incredible new tech allowing for 1:1 scale, interiors, massive crowds, a brand-new parkour system and an integrated multiplayer component. Pushing content and tech at the same time is always very demanding, and this opus maybe pushed too many things at once.

AC Unity is one of the most underestimated games in the series.

It became an unfortunate story that we’ve seen many times before and since, with players writing off Unity because it failed at launch. That same notion would go on to impact games like Cyberpunk 2077 and No Man’s Sky, which underwent incredible redemption stories but have been forever marred by awful launches.

In reality, Assassin’s Creed Unity introduced some of the most incredible advancements in the series:

• Granular outfit customization
• Never-before-seen stealth mechanics
• Deep crowd engine that made the game feel unbelievably alive
• Challenging combat mechanics that were a world away from previous games
• Co-operative missions that supported up to four players
• A twisting collaboration with Assassin’s Creed: Rogue

Do you think Assassin’s Creed Unity is underestimated, as Guesdon suggests? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.

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