Delaying Resale Motivated Additional Elements in Assassin’s Creed
Bruno Pferd 
Key Takeaways
Created with AI - we're still experimenting, so apologies if it misses the mark
- Ubisoft sought to increase playtime in the Assassins Creed series by incorporating RPG elements, aiming to reduce secondhand sales and extend content without affecting revenue.
- The strategy was implemented due to the lack of success with multiplayer features in the series. Traditional action and adventure games like Assassins Creed typically have a high cost-per-hour of gameplay.
- Assassins Creed stands out as a unique example of a series that successfully changed genres while retaining its dedicated fanbase, with significant shifts in setting and character helping inject new life into the series.
- The original Assassins Creed designs are personally preferred by Alex Hutchinson, who worked on titles such as Far Cry 4 and Assassins Creed III at Ubisoft. He expressed concern about player reluctance to purchase a new installment soon after investing significant time into a previous one.
Enhancing Assassin’s Creed Playtime Through RPG Elements – A Cost-Effective Strategy for Ubisoft?
Alex Hutchinson, a Ubisoft veteran who worked on titles such as Far Cry 4 and Assassin’s Creed III, believes the Assassin’s Creed series incorporated elements to increase playtime, aiming to reduce secondhand sales without impacting revenue. Hutchinson, who departed Ubisoft in 2017, recounted to GamesRadar the significant pressure he felt in 2012 during Assassin’s Creed III’s production to keep the game’s details confidential. He stated that designers were instructed to extend gameplay duration. Ubisoft viewed this strategy as a solution given that multiplayer elements had not proven effective for the series. Traditional action and adventure games, like the original Assassin’s Creed, typically incur a high cost-per-hour of gameplay. Therefore, introducing RPG elements offered a cost-effective method to expand the series’ content and playtime. While Hutchinson remains uncertain if cost was the primary catalyst for this shift, he considered it unusual for a series intended for annual release.
Transforming Assassin’s Creed Genres: Balancing Loyalty and Renewal for Ubisoft
Assassin’s Creed stands out as a unique example of a series that successfully changed genres while retaining its dedicated fanbase. Hutchinson expressed concern that players might be reluctant to purchase a new installment soon after investing 200 hours into a previous one. However, he acknowledges that significant shifts in setting and character helped inject new life into the series. Despite this, Hutchinson personally prefers action and adventure games, holding a particular fondness for the original Assassin’s Creed designs.
About the Author
Jonathan Dubinski 
Sophie Laurent 
Carlos Mendoza 
Ahmed Hassan 
