Assassin’s Creed isn’t an accurate retelling of history – or, at least we don’t think so. Ubisoft takes more than a handful of liberties when crafting its most popular series in particular historical periods, but that hasn’t stopped the developer from delivering authentic, credible experiences. Game director Ash Ismail expanded on this point in a new interview with Gameranx.
“We say ‘history is our playground’ and obviously templars and assassins don’t exist,” Ismail said. “We accept the fact that we’re a video game and playing with history in an era is something that I think connects to people. History resonates on a very deep level because it’s the definition of who we are, it’s the definition of how we got here in terms of culture and society. So being able to play in that is quite fun.
“Being able to play with actual historical figures that people know is cool as well, but then we give it our own spin because we have never attempted to teach history, we’re a video game. So again, we don’t make simulation games, we don’t make realistic games—we make credible games, we make authentic games.”
Even if a certain degree of historical accuracy is trying to be reached, Ismail knows that the French studio is making a video game. It’s supposed to be fun and fantastical, and thankfully, the Assassin’s Creed series has been able to go off in its own interesting direction without feeling too disconnected from its actual historical period.
Look for Black Flag to launch on current and next-gen consoles this fall.
