It’s hard to believe that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is already a year old. While Ubisoft may have ended support for the game to focus on upcoming new additions to the franchise, its impact has been highlighted by none other than art director Thierry Dansereau.
Speaking to IGN, Dansereau commented on how new additions to the game are going to be a major factor in future releases, with a special focus on the new Atmos weather system and the addition of ray-traced global illumination. Both of these brought the franchise’s take on ancient Japan to life in very impressive ways.
“I’m proud that we shipped the game! It’s quite a challenge, and with Assassin’s Creed, there are a lot of people involved, so it’s a collective challenge. I was at DICE not so long ago, and shipping any game is a small miracle, according to all developers. It’s quite a challenge, and with Assassin’s Creed there are a lot of people involved, so it’s a collective challenge.
“The legacy, I think, is we’ve pushed quite a lot of things: we’ve improved parkour, stealth. Fighting, we’ve pushed certain elements of it. In all the systems, we’ve guided a lot of technology in the game that I think will become legacy for future ACs. There are quite a few things that will make their way through (to upcoming games).”
Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe is probably going to be the most obvious beneficiary of the lessons Ubisoft has learned from Shadows (with creative director Jean Guesdon describing it as “unique, darker, and narrative-driven”). However, it’s far from the only addition to the franchise’s pipeline, with the much-anticipated remake of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag expected to be revealed later this year with a potential launch in 2027.
We’re hoping that the Brotherhood manages to sustain the momentum it has created from its Japanese chapter and bring us more sneaky stabbing sooner rather than later. In the meantime, check out our review of Assassin’s Creed Shadows here for more details. You can also learn more about its last major update here.
