Assassin's Creed Creator Apologizes For 'Ubisoft Tower'

Patrice Désilets is the man behind the hit Assassin's Creed series. He initially served as the creative director for Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. He eventually left Ubisoft in 2010 and founded Panache Digital Games in 2014. Recently, he said that he is sorry for all of the radio towers found across different Ubisoft franchises.

In a Q&A panel at EGLX, an attendee asked Désilets if he still sees himself as "The Assassin's Creed guy." He responded: "I dunno man! Honestly, I don't know. A little bit! If you're going to spend years on something I hope that happens."

Those early Assassin's Creed titles were responsible for popularizing the concept of a climbable viewpoint. Basically, it is where players reveal parts of the game map by scaling towers and 'synchronizing' the view. Other open-world games under Ubisoft’s umbrella were quick to adapt the famed mechanic, with the Far Cry series being on top of the list. It also found its way outside of the publisher’s circle, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being the most notable example.

"Breath of the Wild, wow!" Désilets said. "That was a game where you could do anything, once you finished the first half-hour or so. Now, you're going to just climb towers and unfog the rest of the map. Sorry...it's my fault..."

Désilets' latest game – and the very first title from Panache Digital Games – still offers a lot of climbing. However, the catch is that players will no longer find any radio towers. Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey puts players in the primitive body of an early hominid dating back 10 million years. The goal of the game is to ensure that your lineage continues to survive to two million BC, a time when the evolution of humanity’s ancestors transitioned from ape-like beings into human species.

Of course, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is completely different from the Assassin’s Creed series. But given the fact that it shares the same creator, there is no doubt that players will experience some nostalgic elements.