Ubisoft took one risk back in the mid-late 2000s and have been riding that safety wave ever since with asscreed. They're not the last people who should be pointing fingers at other publishers for playing it too safe and releasing formulaic games, but damn if they aren't next-in-line for that honor.
this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2025
94 points (89.8% liked)
Games
43161 readers
1167 users here now
Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.
Rules
1. Submissions have to be related to games
Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.
This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.
2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil
No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.
We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.
3. No excessive self-promotion
Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.
This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.
4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts
This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.
We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.
5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW
Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.
No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.
6. No linking to piracy
Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.
We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.
Authorized Regular Threads
Related communities
PM a mod to add your own
Video games
Generic
- !gaming@Lemmy.world: Our sister community, focused on PC and console gaming. Meme are allowed.
- !photomode@feddit.uk: For all your screenshots needs, to share your love for games graphics.
- !vgmusic@lemmy.world: A community to share your love for video games music
Help and suggestions
By platform
By type
- !AutomationGames@lemmy.zip
- !Incremental_Games@incremental.social
- !LifeSimulation@lemmy.world
- !CityBuilders@sh.itjust.works
- !CozyGames@Lemmy.world
- !CRPG@lemmy.world
- !OtomeGames@ani.social
- !Shmups@lemmus.org
- !VisualNovels@ani.social
By games
- !Baldurs_Gate_3@lemmy.world
- !Cities_Skylines@lemmy.world
- !CassetteBeasts@Lemmy.world
- !Fallout@lemmy.world
- !FinalFantasyXIV@lemmy.world
- !Minecraft@Lemmy.world
- !NoMansSky@lemmy.world
- !Palia@Lemmy.world
- !Pokemon@lemm.ee
- !Skyrim@lemmy.world
- !StardewValley@lemm.ee
- !Subnautica2@Lemmy.world
- !WorkersAndResources@lemmy.world
Language specific
- !JeuxVideo@jlai.lu: French
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
They came from toothpas?
Looks like the title got cut off.
"Whereas, say, EA, you get these awful execs and they never made games and they came from toothpaste companies"
And the title should have been much shorter.
Ubisoft has practically only produced confusing Open World games of the same IPs for the past decade. My definition of risk and innovation is slightly different 😅
And that’s just because Open World games are easy to mass produce. You just change assets and few minor things and reuse more or less the whole game
"The Assassin's Creed franchise evolved into the household name it is thanks to rare, or at least rare-among-AAA, support for risk-taking at Ubisoft"
Fucking lol.
"No, no, hear me out. It's exactly the same game. The same thing we make every single time. But this time, it's in... Egypt."
"Holy shit! What a maverick! Who is that guy? I like the way he thinks. Give him a corner office and the same budget we gave the Greece one!"
You know what I would buy? Hitman set in ancient Egypt.
Infiltrating a workgang forced to build a pyramid, putting a spitting cobra into a nasty enforcer's chamber pot because he owes the Potiphar some serious myrrh?
Sign me up.
Honestly, not a bad idea. Synthesizing and iterating, taking things out of context, combining elements you haven't before - that's how you get something interesting.
Ubi's problem is that their gameplay loops are completely stale. There just isn't enough new and different, the stories are trite, the dialogue is shit, and everything is boring and predictable.
I somewhat enjoyed the first Assassin's Creed, but was a little bitter it wasn't the Prince of Persia game they'd intended the engine for. I didn't find "walking slowly to blend in with a crowd" to be as fun as the intense combat and tight platforming of Sands of Time. But I cannot for the life of me understand how the series blew up into a juggernaut of a dozen releases over two decades.
I'm actually playing The Lost Crown now and - not that I'm the first to observe this - but I feel like it's the best thing Ubi has done since The Two Thrones twenty years ago. This is the kind of risk that Ubi should be taking. Modest games, smaller budgets, new genres. Diversify and let the creatives create. Let small projects succeed and give them a sequel. If small projects fail, it doesn't break the bank. But for christ's sake stop releasing the same three giant boring games over and over.
The Egypt one was definitely one where they changed it a lot. So much so that I no longer enjoyed playing them.
The Assassin's Creed franchise nowadays seems more like one of those slushy machines at the mall that perpetually move the same ingredients around in a neverending cycle of despair and stagnation.
Poetic and miserable, I may not be able to bear looking at a slushy machine the same way.
"Forever brand" really has "forever chemicals" vibes.
That and the risktaking bit give the headline two rofl’s
Assassin's Creed's shift to open-world RPGs would never have happened at many companies, Alex Hutchinson says
Literally everyone and their mother could have expected this change. It's literally the one single way AAA studios have been padding gameplay and time for a decade and a half now.
Ubisoft codified a certain style of open world design that many other AAA releases were using as a template. He's right, you can't deny the impact the franchise had.
Oh yeah, climbing a tower to unlock a part of the map is so innovative, especially after the 15th fucking time they used it.
I’ve always felt the tower thing was unfair.
It WAS a good idea when first used. And, when imported across to Far Cry, they also tried to come up with new forms of climbing and even puzzles to get you up. Then, simply because the internet made memes about it through repeat emphasis (repeating an old mechanic alone isn’t necessarily a bad thing) they responded, took the system out, and even lampshaded it in Far Cry 5 - WHILE other devs as far as Nintendo/Zelda were copying it.
Theres a lot to condemn Ubisoft for, but the towers thing always irked me. Call open worlds as a whole boring, but it suggests it’s not the sort of game to keep your interest anyway.
You say that and I can kinda agree with it, and I can see them agreeing with it... but I recently got FC5 on a discount and despite it all - it still felt like the exact same game as every previous one. So artificially gamey and forced in some interactions, so predictable in its plot and map exploration structure...
I don't think it ends up feeling that different at all. Maybe you zipline up the towers today and they just discover POIs instead of removing map fog, but it's still the same crap, just served differently
Ii didn't use the word innovative, mind you
Even From and Zelda went open world.
Zelda is classically open world though - since the og nintendo
Oh yeah, these terrible execs from other companies who veto female protagonists on principle, insist on implementing the same list of a thousand terrible features in all games regardless of genre, and harass their employees while being protected by HR and the CEO.
Wait, no, those are not the bad ones. You know the bad ones because they've worked for toothpaste companies.
Weird, Assassin's Creed died with 2 when they fired the creator.
Sad because 2 is where it hit its stride
Okay but Black Flag slapped. Maybe not as an AC game per se, but Black Flag was still a greater game.
Black Flag was a mediocre Assassin's Creed game, at best. It was a phenomenal pirate game
Agreed. Black Flag was awesome. Never finished the story though. Just sailing, singing shanties.
And Rogue. I rarely hear Rogue mentioned but it's my favourite. I find the story the most appealing, and it comes with so much moral ambiguity.
Gameplay-wise, Rogue is even better than Black Flag. Narratively, Rogue is a disaster fueled by Shay being painfully stupid.
Being released at the same time as the significantly more modern (and unpopular) Unity didn't do Rogue any favors.
Is that why the third one never concluded the series as it was originally intended?
Probably more to do with boatloads of money to be made
Controversial opinion: I like comfort games these days.
The first AC came out when I was in high school, and my one of my favourite bands for a good few years released their first album around then as well. I may not have as much time or love for either now, but I still get a nice buzz when I engage with a new release - especially when it does something a bit different (even if not revolutionary) compared to previous ones.
Life's too short to avoid something you actually enjoy just because other people told you it's not good enough.
Assassin's Creed is about equivalent to Colgate, I guess.
I'm clueless, what happened to Colgate?
Some scandal. A Colgategate, if you will.
Toothpas?
Like gamepass, but tooth
Most self-aware Ubisoft employee quoted in post title
You know how in tv shows or movies in the 90s, there were always a pair of villains or goons that worked for the main villain and were comic relief? Like the Jessie & James pair in Pokemon or the two guys in power rangers or whatever I'm thinking of.
Remember how occasionally, like if it were two guys, they'd fight between the two of them, on-screen?
I don't know why this memory popped up. Curious...
🎶 Assassin's Creed is a good franchise 🎶