Assassin's Creed III Q&A

So much information, a single page couldn't hold it.

Ubisoft recently sent us through a Q&A with Alexander Hutchinson, the Creative Director on the hotly anticipated Assassin's Creed III. We wouldn't normally run content like this on the site, preferring to instead conduct our own interviews, however the feature is packed with interesting information about the new game, so we thought "why not".

So here it is, an interview conducted by PR persons unknown, with loads of new information on the new game - including details about the surprising historical setting, the American Revolution...

Assassin’s Creed 3 is one of the biggest games attempted by Ubisoft. How do you organise such a massive undertaking?
With a development cycle of over three years and twice the production capacity of any previous Ubisoft game, Assassin’s Creed III is indeed a massive undertaking. We are lucky to have a veteran core team that came over directly from Assassin’s Creed II and that has grown with members of AC Brotherhood and AC Revelations. This senior team is a great mix of very talented and extremely experienced people.

Assassin’s Creed is a project developed by world-wide studios. Who leads the development and how do you coordinate within all these studios?
Montreal is the lead studio with support from eight other Ubisoft studios.

Assassin’s Creed 3 marks a major milestone for the franchise; can you give us a glimpse at the scale of the game?
We started work on AC3 directly after AC2, so we’ve been working on it for over two years already... We’re really excited to finally talk about it and show people our hard work. We want it to be a huge step forward for the franchise, and to be the biggest and best AC game yet.

What is the story of Assassin’s Creed 3? Where does it take place?
Assassin’s Creed 3 takes place in the British Colonies during the American Revolution, mainly Boston, New York and what we’re calling the Frontier.

Spanning the years 1753 to 1783, we trace the full life of Connor, a half Mohawk, half British boy born in the Mohawk Valley. As the Revolution heats up, Connor’s community is threatened and so he sets out to protect it. To help fight for his people, Connor joins the Assassins, and begins a quest to protect the free will of people everywhere.

What are the forces at play? What is the Templar’s role in the story?
Our story explores the ongoing power struggle between Assassins and Templars. The Assassins have been in America for many years, watching over the Colonies unchallenged from the days of Columbus. But over time they grew complacent and by 1765 the Templars have all but wiped out the Assassins in the Colonies. While the Assassin’s cling to existence, the Templars pursue their goals- and when the Revolution begins, the Assassins rise again to challenge the Templars as the Colonies struggle to free themselves from imperial oppression.

The American Revolution is a key historical period, what makes this period pivotal in history?
The American Revolution is a key historical event for the world, not just for America: For Britain, the old joke was that the revolution was a civil war fought on foreign soil; for France, the debt incurred by helping the patriots leads directly to the French Revolution; for Americans obviously it’s the founding of their nation; and for the rest of the world it is the beginning of events that lead to the American Century, and created the dominant superpower of the last hundred years.

It’s also worth mentioning that while the American Revolution is the backdrop to our story, but it is not the story itself: we’re still telling another chapter in the ongoing war between Assassins and Templars, and our story begins before the revolution kicks off and ends after it is concluded. The core of our story is about how Connor leaves his village, why he joins the Assassins, how he becomes entangled in the revolution and how his quest to save his people concludes.

How is this period treated in the game? Why did you focus in on this particular time period and is this timeframe?
We’re always looking for fresh places and periods to set the game. We don’t want to go places that other games have explored, and even though America is a common videogame setting, America in this period is radically different. People will recognize some landmarks, but both Boston and New York in the 18th century are practically unexplored in games which made it an exciting setting.

Our story is an epic tale that crosses 30 years, from 1753 to 1783, beginning before the revolution kicks off, proceeding through its key events and finishing after the surrender of the British. We have an opportunity to include more historical events than ever before, with the player visiting Valley Forge, getting involved in key battles such as Bunker Hill and even becoming entangled in Paul Revere’s midnight ride.

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