After recent comments appeared to imply that its developers are unconcerned with PC optimization, Ubisoft has responded with a broadside of information about the design process behind games like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Contrary to reports in the media, Ubisoft designers are "PC fans," according to a new post by Communications Manager Gary Steinman.

Steinman, a former editor of PC Gamer, had additional comments from Ubisoft associate producer Sylvain Trottier, who he says was "re-quoted out of context" in the media with regard to the PC version of ACIV. Trottier feels there is some confusion about how and when PCs are pushed to their maximum during the development process. Before any optimization work begins, there is an earlier phase that is all about discovering where the graphical boundaries might be, according to Trottier.

“You want to push the particle and lighting effects to the max to see how it looks,” Trottier said. “Thing is, while you’re doing that, the performance doesn’t matter. We were doing R&D. But we weren’t doing R&D for performance. We’re doing R&D to try to see how far we can push the limits, to make our game look very amazing.”

When the proper optimization of a game like ACIV begins for its respective platforms, the PC comes "first," according to Trottier.

“We are very proud of the PC version of Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag,” Trottier said. “The game runs well on low-end PCs, and lots of additional features were added for higher-end machines, allowing each and every customer to fully enjoy the experience on their PCs. Our partnership with Nvidia that saw our respective engineering teams work together to develop a highly optimized PC version also demonstrates our commitment to the platform.”

Now, to my eye, ACIV does look gorgeous, especially with the settings cranked up. I'm not sure a violent encounter with a rogue wave has ever looked so pretty on my machine. And we already knew there were graphical features exclusive to the PC version, which we learn from Trottier has its own team devoted to it over in Kiev, Ukraine. But of course I'm not running it on anything like the Large Pixel Collider either, so maybe I have yet to see where the limits of the game truly are.

Thanks, PCgamesN.

Following the release of their tribute to the pirate life, a handful of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag developers took to Reddit and addressed a few burning questions from fans. They avoided addressing where Ubisoft would take the series post-Black Flag, but that didn't stop them from sharing where they thought the series wasn't going.

Lead Writer Darby McDevitt had a hard time believing Ubisoft would set an entire AC game in the present. “I doubt we would do a modern day AC," he writes. “There are just too many mechanics we would have to develop to make it believable... vehicles, plausible modern cities, a huge array of ranged weapons, etc. The modern day will most likely remain as a ‘context’ for all future games, something to tie them all together.”

McDevitt also noted that recently delayed Watch Dogs would help “scratch the itch” for players interested in a modern day Assassin’s Creed. We’ll have to wait until spring 2014 to see if that’s actually the case.

Okay, Ubisoft? Activision? EA? You're all here? Good, take a seat. I've called you to this post to explain the purpose of a "launch trailer". It's designed to accompany the launch of a game. Not to crop up two weeks before launch, and definitely not when you're over a month away from that launch. Oh well, given that it's here, I guess we'll show you Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag's launch trailer. It's unique among today's AAA video previews, in that only about three things explode.



As with almost all games containing the Ubisoft logo, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag's PC version will be trailing behind the console. Our goods won't be offloaded until November 22nd. While you wait, you can read about Craig Owens' attempt to tame the high seas, when he went hands-on with the game earlier in the year.

The Assassin's Creed series has always had a knack for putting its imagined, simulated history at the center of its experience. It's taken us to the Near East, Italy, colonial America, and in the upcoming Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, to Blackbeard's Caribbean. But as we learn from an interview with AC4's game director Ashraf Ismail at Examiner, it now takes a small army of developers to craft just one of those game worlds.

Addressing the possibility of creating an entry in the series some day that would include multiple, globe-spanning locales for the conflict between Assassins and the Knights Templar, all Ismail had to do to put that idea to rest was point out the size of his team.

"From a pure production standpoint, it would be very, very difficult to do something like that," Ismail said. "On this game, we’ve had over 900 people working on it. With the Assassin’s Creed machine and being the game director, even I am sometimes amazed. It takes 900 people to create the content for this game, so to try to do multiple worlds that are all big and fleshed out with unique characters in them, I’m not sure it would bring that much to the player."

While Ismail did hint that future games might include the ability to play as multiple assassins in the same general setting, he said putting together some sort of Abstergo reunion of "America with Connor, Ezio in Italy, and the Caribbean with Edward" isn't feasible given the dev resources that are now needed to realize a single, "high quality" game universe.

For more on piracy, assassins, and the obviously massive project that is an Assassin's Creed game, check out our recent in-depth interview with Ismail. AC4 releases for PC November 19 in North America.

To absolutely no one's surprise, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag will launch with a DLC season pass. Following in the footsteps of 2012's Assassin's Creed 3, and countless other high-profile games, Black Flag will try to preemptively sell you downloadable content right out of the box. And now we know that the single-player portion of the pass will not focus on main character Edward Kenway.

The DLC, called Freedom Cry, will include nine missions and focus on Kenway's first mate, Adewale. The content will take at least three hours to complete, according to Ubisoft. Fifteen years after Adewale escaped a life of slavery, he joined the Jackdraw crew and served under Kenway. But in Freedom Cry, he finds himself stranded on Sainte-Domingue with no weapons and none of his crew to help him.

Freedom Cry is not the only piece of content promised in the season pass; extra multiplayer characters, single-player skins and collectibles, and a Kraken Ship Pack to customize the Jackdraw. Ubisoft's blog post says that all of this content will be released before March 2014 for $19.99, but its specific mentioning of March 2014 hints that they might produce more DLC afterward—and charge extra money. So, we might see a season pass and then even more DLC outside of that pass, based on the blog post's wording.

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, and its season pass, will launch on PC on Nov 19. You can learn more about Adewale's plight in the trailer below.

More and more new games every year are sequels, so I guess the next logical step is enormous collections of previously released games. Bethesda announced at QuakeCon that every Elder Scrolls game would be available, and now Ubisoft is following suit with the Assassin’s Creed Heritage Collection. Available on November 8, the Heritage Collection will include Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed 2, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, and Assassin’s Creed 3.

The official price has not been announced, but some listings are starting to pop up in the neighborhood of $70/£40, which isn’t outrageous for five games plus DLC. Still, at that price you’re paying a premium for the packaging and whatever extras they throw in there, and we have no idea what those extras might be.

Of course, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag lands on November 19. Technically speaking, I suppose gamers brand-new to the series could pound through the first five games in time for the launch of Black Flag, but only if they’re willing to give up showering and eating. Still, die-hard fans might appreciate having the games and their individual DLCs all in one tidy package.

Assassin's Creed III featured some less-than-stellar missions, many of which involved little more than running between hotspots, triggering a cutscene or glitch or hearing Connor saying something monotone when you got there. It's interesting that Ubisoft has implemented a mission rating system into Assassin's Creed 4, then. In game, you'll be able to (optionally) rate each story mission out of five; the data will then anonymously be sent to Ubisoft to be analysed by their Ubi-boffins, hopefully resulting in better AC games in the future. Yep: AC4 is essentially one giant beta test for Assassin's Creed 5.

As revealed to Eurogamer by associate producer Sylvain Trottier, "the idea behind this feature is to be able to get the input of our players on their appreciation of each mission. The rating is anonymous and is sent to our servers to be analysed."

The feature was implemented early in the game's production, so it's likely that player feedback has helped shape AC4 to some degree - but it seems the data will primarily be used when designing future entries in the series. It works like this: on the memory sync screen that shows up after story missions, you'll now see a small box in the corner of the screen, along with the words 'Rate This Mission'. You can optionally choose to give it a star rating, or skip the process entirely if you can't be bothered.

Trottier explains that "it's fully optional. It's a way for our players to tell us directly whether they liked or not the mission. It's a survey if you prefer. It will help us know which missions are the favourites and which ones people like less." He isn't sure whether the system will be used in future Ubisoft games, or even whether it will be effective, but hey - at least they're listening. Last night Assassin's Creed 4 was finally given a PC release date of November 19th.

Thanks to Eurogamer.

After months and months of uncomfortable silence and nebulous date ranges, Ubisoft has finally announced that the PC version of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will sail into view around the same time as its next-gen console versions on Nov. 19.

Of course, with new information comes a new trailer, though this one shows off the game’s crew of buccaneers more than Caribbean foliage or the proper way to harpoon a shark (it’s all in the wrist). I imagine Ubisoft’s afraid to show off another 15 minute video as we’d probably deduce the ending through the sheer amount of footage that’s been released thus far.

Personally, I don’t care that the PC verison isn’t hitting the original October 29 release date if it means we get a more optimized PC game from Ubisoft than we have in years (or months) past. Ubisoft PC ports have traditionally been, well, less than spectacular, but that doesn’t mean things can’t change. A new team’s building this game, and with that comes new expectations.

Five minutes of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag gameplay, filmed at Gamescom last week, shows a chunk of the new naval warfare and the assault on an island fortress. Black Flag is shaping up to be a huge oceanic sandbox, so solid naval combat is going to be crucial to the game’s success.



The attack opens on with a mortar barrage on Punta Guarico, a small fortress in the Caribbean. The mortar is a new weapon that looks like it’s tricky to control, but it packs a real punch.

“There is a lot happening and it get can intense,” Black Flag game director Ashraf Ismail
says in the voiceover. “This is a naval sandbox, and in this case we chose to attack while there’s a Brig nearby. This could have easily happened at night or during a hurricane storm with waterspouts and thirty-foot waves. There could have been a bigger military presence.”

After destroying the enemy ships and battering the fort’s tower strongholds, assassin Edward Kenway takes a running dive off the side of the ship, swims to shore, and begins to parkour and stab his way through the defenses to get at the fort commander. The smooth transition from naval commander to free-running assassin is pretty impressive.

“The seamless concept was something we knew we needed to push because it brings the gameplay and immersion to a whole new level,” Ismail says.

Black Flag will be out on consoles on October 29 in North America and November 1 in Europe. Its PC release is slated for a few weeks afterwards.

Assassin's Creed's many heroes are particularly good at the old Slow-Walking Like a Badass While Contemporary Music Plays, and Black Flag's latest trailer is no exception. Apparently stealth is the focus of this one, though 'stealth' is a word which here means 'jumping on people before stabbing them in the throat'. You know, stealth. Hey, at least it's consistent with the other games. Also pictured: blowdarts, a windmill, costume changes, and a dude with a scarry face. Yep, this is Assassin's Creed alright.



Yo ho how about that then? It's a darned sight better than the *shudders* live action trailer doing the rounds a couple of days ago. I do hope Kenway isn't just another sullen killer though - after the moody Connor, it would be nice to have someone with a bit of personality again.

For our complete Gamescom coverage, plunder this link.