“Ending Desmond’s arc was a difficult decision” – Assassin’s Creed’s boss on the issues the series faced with its modern day storyline, and what Shadows is doing to fix it

After Desmond was whacked off in Assassin’s Creed 3, Ubisoft was a bit lost on what to do with the modern story, but it’s hoping to fix things with Shadows.

If you can believe it, Assassin’s Creed 3 is 12 years old, which means it’s been just as long since good ole Desmond was the series’ modern day protagonist. While the historical element was always the main draw, Assassin’s Creed has still had a bit of a modern day storyline since then, but has struggled to figure out what to do with it, and speaking at a BAFTA event last week (via Eurogamer), franchise boss Marc-Alexis Coté spoke of the difficulties the studio has faced with working on this story, and how it hopes to bring things back around again.

“When the Assassin’s Creed franchise was created, it introduced a bold and innovative narrative structure, a modern day story arc centred around Desmond that was intertwined with historical adventures,” Coté said. “Desmond’s journey was at the heart of the modern day conflict driving the search for powerful Isu artefacts – Pieces of Eden – that could change the course of history. However, with his death at the end of Assassin’s Creed 3, we faced a creative crossroads. Ending Desmond’s arc was a difficult decision, and afterward, the modern storyline struggled to find its footing.”

While Assassin’s Creed did eventually find a new modern protagonist, Layla Hassan, repetitiveness became a bit of a problem when every game was kind of doing the same thing. “The continued focus on characters hunting for Isu artefacts made the narrative more predictable and reduced the conflict between Templars and Assassins to a straightforward pursuit of control over – let’s be honest – magical relics,” Coté continued. “This shift pulled focus away from what had always been at the heart of the franchise: exploring our history.

“As this approach became repetitive, both players and critics felt the modern day storyline had become a secondary concern, more of a side-quest, rather than an integral part of the overall experience. Furthermore, the compounded complexity of 15 years of lore built in this parallel storyline created a cognitive load that made the franchise difficult to approach for newcomers.”

Unsurprisingly, Ubisoft is looking to change these problems with Assassin’s Creed Shadows, with Coté noting that Ubisoft’s goal is to “put history back at the centre of the players’ experience” with the modern day narrative serving to “enhance, rather than overshadow, the historical journey.” Ge explains that the “modern day storyline will explore deeper themes of memory, identity and autonomy, how the past shapes who we are, and how controlling this past can impact our future… The groundwork for this new direction will take shape with Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which will lay the foundation for this narrative evolution that will grow in the years to come.”

Assassin’s Creed Shadows was actually meant to be released next Tuesday, but last month it caught a delay to February next year to polish up the game a bit. Ubisoft has been struggling quite a lot in recent years, with Tencent even reportedly considering acquiring the developer, so Shadows will need to be a hit for the studio – we’ll just have to wait and see if it can pull it off.