How Assassin's Creed IV Is Being Created by Seven Different Studios

[Cognimancer]

How Assassin's Creed IV Is Being Created by Seven Different Studios

Sadly, the metric of division is not "one studio for each of the seven seas."

The development of a AAA video game is always a serious undertaking, and often one studio will divvy up the content and outsource some of the work to another studio. Ubisoft Montreal, primary developer of the Assassin's Creed series, is very familiar with this process - every game since the original Assassin's Creed has been a joint effort by two or more studios. For Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, the developers are getting a tad more ambitious - Black Flag will be the product of no less than seven separate studios' combined efforts.

With so many cooks in the kitchen, it's quite a logistical challenge to keep the original vision of the game intact. Ubisoft Montreal is taking the lead again, and Ubisoft Singapore (the studio responsible for the naval battles in Assassin's Creed III) has earned a central role as well. The two of them will be focusing on the design of the single-player game, with support from studios in Kiev and Quebec. Meanwhile, Ubisoft Sofia is handling the modern components of Abstergo Industries and their continuing schemes. Studios in Annecy and Bucharest are in charge of multiplayer.

Part of the challenge of dividing Black Flag's content involves its new sandbox design. While Assassin's Creed III was clearly split into on-foot missions and naval battles, Black Flag aims for a more mingled style of gameplay. "It's a cohesive world," explains lead game content manager Carsten Myhill. "Whereas before we had a land game and a sea experience joined together, because we've created this cohesive universe we can't really split things up as simply as we have in the past, so we're going for more of a mission-based split this time."

While it may sound like a surefire formula for a disjointed campaign, the developers at Ubisoft's assorted studios think they can pull it off. "We've adopted this multi-studio approach now since Assassin's Creed II so it's a well-oiled setup that we have," Myhill assures. "It sounds very complicated and I'm not saying it's not a challenge - it requires incredible talent and organization to get it done, but we know how to do it."

We'll be able to see how well the seams are hidden when Black Flag sets sail on PlayStation 4, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360, and PC later this year.

Source: Edge [http://www.edge-online.com/news/assassins-creed-iv-is-being-developed-across-seven-different-studios-heres-how/]

Permalink

 

[AntiChri5]

I am extremely skeptical. This just sounds like an utter clusterfuck waiting to happen.

And if the game doesn't live up to expectations, watching the blame game will probably end up as entertaining as the game itself.

 

[The White Hunter]

I am extremely skeptical. This just sounds like an utter clusterfuck waiting to happen.

And if the game doesn't live up to expectations, watching the blame game will probably end up as entertaining as the game itself.

Didn't AC3 have like 7 studios and turn out unpolished and pretty much unfinished (those who will inevitably disagree I urge you to go play Ac2, then Ac3 unpatched and tell me that it's an improvement) because it's dev time was barely a year?

 

[Hazzard]

I like the idea, but I don't think it will work.

 

[Eruanno]

The end credits are going to be horribly, horribly long... :O

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

The end credits are going to be horribly, horribly long... :O

Hell, it's going to take 2 and a half minutes just to get through the opening logos.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

Cuz it worked so well for Aliens: Colonial Marines, right?

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I am extremely skeptical. This just sounds like an utter clusterfuck waiting to happen.

And if the game doesn't live up to expectations, watching the blame game will probably end up as entertaining as the game itself.

You mean like SimCity with its horrific bugs clusterfuck?


Or Aliens Colonial Marines style?

 

[Mullahgrrl]

The end credits are going to be horribly, horribly long... :O

Hell, it's going to take 2 and a half minutes just to get through the opening logos.

My exact first thought, Asscreed 3 was bad enough in that aspect.

 

[BramblinTheGnome]

I read the tagline under the article title: Sadly, the metric of division is not "one studio for each of the seven seas."

This would have been an awesome idea. Creating one engine to work with, then handing the project to 7 different studios each to make a story about one of the 7 seas. Give the central characters general personalities and goals, then let the studios take them in whatever direction they desire. They can even mess a little with the gameplay, weapons, character design, etc as long as it all stays close enough to the central theme to remain believable. Of course each sea would have to be self contained in order to not conflict with the other stories. Also differences in style might not mesh well if the character is allowed to jump between the different seas (unless they find someway to make that part of the story/gameplay).

I'm not sure if games can do this, but I know films can. Four Rooms was a great movie that followed a single character (Ted the Bellhop) through his first time on overnight duty. There are 4 stories and each story is handled by a separate director. The styles of each room are obviously different and the stories having little to nothing to do with each other. However, the end result is an entertaining, bizarre movie. I consider it one of my favorites, and would be interested in seeing if a video game could pull a similar stunt and be successful.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Well I may as well pick out a movie to watch for when the credits roll at the end of this one then.

 

[jFr[e]ak93]

Well I may as well pick out a movie to watch for when the credits roll at the end of this one then.

Finally, something to beat out Lord of the Rings - Return of the King's credits! The wait is over.

OT - I like the pirate idea... 7 devs not so much. Of course, I never have played an AC game. I doubt this will change that.

 

[FootloosePhoenix]

And all seven of them could hear my sigh of frustration.

Seems like it'll be a good time for me to check out the first Assassin's Creed, at any rate.

 

[Longstreet]

Either this works out REAL well and we got a pretty good game and everyone is happy

OR

This turns out to be a complete cluster fuck and it ends up even more un-polished than AC III. We will get some laughs from the fallout though, like simcity and all.

Can we vote already if we want a skip through the credit option or not?

 

[T3hSource]

Phahahah,I guess Ubisoft is completely oblivious that a game needs FOCUS!
Nope,we must have over 1000 people working simultaneously on it to show off ALL the things the current consoles are capable. Mini-games AHOY!

 

[AndrewC]

Well it can't be as bad as AC3, so perhaps at least one studio will do one part correctly and give us something decent for a brief bit of playtime.

 

[synobal]

It's gonna feel kinda schizophrenic which is what I got from playing Assassin's creed 3. I wish it would find it's roots and work on ya know improving the overall gameplay of killing people.