Big changes in store for the Assassin’s Creed series amid sexual misconduct allegations
Assassins Creed Valhalla. (Ubisoft)
Big changes are on the way to the Assassin’s Creed series that will eventually become a live online service game.
The news was broken by Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, who reported the existence of Assassin’s Creed Infinity as the next step in the popular open world series.
NEW: The future of Assassin’s Creed is live service. Ubisoft Montreal and Quebec have teamed up for Assassin’s Creed Infinity, a huge platform planned to have multiple settings. But after the reorg, several men accused of abuse remain in charge. My latest: https://t.co/fre2ljvh8g
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 7, 2021
What’s more, many of the men involved in the project have been accused of sexual misconduct in the past in a wave of #MeToo allegations that swept through the company in the past year.
In the Bloomberg report, a spokeswoman for Ubisoft said that they had investigated every allegation and took appropriate actions.
“Any employee that had allegations and remain at Ubisoft has had their case rigorously reviewed by a third party and were either exonerated or underwent appropriate disciplinary actions,” she said.
“Employees who have been under investigation would not remain at Ubisoft if results of investigations warranted termination.”
Following that report, Ubisoft have released their own statement on the game that outlines the key people involved and how various studios are merging.
“Assassin’s Creed has always been developed by multicultural teams with various backgrounds and perspectives that have influenced the depiction of its characters, locations, and cultures,” it reads.
“While we know there’s always room for improvement, we believe this new structure allows us to ensure that diversity and representation within our teams continues to grow and match that of our players.”
Previous games in the series have alternated between Ubisoft’s Montreal and Quebec studios, but with this new project (codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity) the studios will merge to produce one ongoing game.
There has reportedly long been a rivalry between the two studios but their merging together has upset some employees who complained on Ubisoft’s internal message board about their dissatisfaction with the way the company dealt with the sexual misconduct allegations.
The Assassin’s Creed games are already known for being epic, but Infinity will be the company’s most ambitious project yet. According to Bloomberg, it “will contain multiple settings with room to expand to others in the months and years following its debut”.
It’s seemingly inspired by the likes of Grand Theft Auto Online and Fortnite, although no firm details about the project exist and it’s unclear if it will be single or multiplayer.
It also likely won’t be released for a few years yet.
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