Assassin’s Creed 3 sequels depend on audience reaction to Connor
Andrew Hallam September 25, 2012 - 9:15 amNews: Assassin’s Creed fans be aware, apparently your opinion matters to Ubisoft as hero for the next AC installments will be decided by the fans reaction to new series hero Connor.
Apparently everyone and their mum (especially their mum) loved Italian Stallion Ezio Auditore because that’s why he’s been the hero of almost every Assassin’s Creed title since the first installment. That’s right folks, apparently publisher Ubisoft are listening very intently to their fans over the AC series. Whether or not fans like the new hero Connor, planned to take Ezio’s place in Assassin’s Creed 3, will determine if Ubi will continue following his story or cut all ties similar to Altair, the series’ first hero of the animus.
“We made three games with Ezio because people loved Ezio.” Explains Assassin’s Creed 3 associate producer Julien Laferrière.
“We’re going to see how players react to the guy [Connor] for sure. You’ll get to experience portions of his life, you’ll see why he becomes an assassin and what his motivations are.
“The more you know about Connor the more you’ll love him, but in the end we’ll see what the reception is like.”
It seems Ubisoft are quite intent on keeping Connor in the picture however, with their hearts set on releasing a new AC title every year it’s hard to see how it could be done without using the same hero and assets, much like with Ezio’s sequel titles Brotherhood and Revelations.
“Assassin’s Creed 3 is the product of three years of development, but [because of that] we also now have a new engine, AnvilNext.” Laferrière said.
Series boss Alex Hutchinson previously insisted that quality, not quantity, should always be the main focus of developing an annual series.
“I find it strange we’ve decided yearly is too often,” Hutchinson said during a panel at GDC Europe last month. “If Radiohead put out an album every month, I’d buy it. It’s about the quality.”
When prompted about the quote Laferrière stated. “Our goal is to make the best game possible. I agree with Alex – if there’s a good game every year, I’ll play it every year.
“It’s like a good television series that goes on for a while. I like Seinfeld, it went on for seven seasons and most of them were pretty good. If they had a bad season, would I have lost interest? Maybe, maybe not. But when the quality is there, the frequency is not an issue.
“I understand the worries of the fans,” Laferrière concluded, “but we share the same world. We wouldn’t want to let down the franchise and release crappy games.”
We’ll soon find out just how much weight Laferrière’s statements hold when Assassin’s Creed 3 is released later this year.
Comments (1)
I personally don’t find that I get series fatigue from the AC games, (but then I do like stabbing people in the face) this is probably because Ezio was such a good character, however it was time for a change, well see if conner is any good, the blatant american bias shown so far in the trailers
is another thing altogether. previously the games have focused on dead or amalgamated nations.