Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag

The Basics:

The Assassins Creed game I have decided to do research is the fourth instalment in the franchise Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag because I believe it is the only game in the franchise that I have played. I say believe as it was about 4 or 5 years ago since I played it and the gameplay looks the most familiar out of all the other games. The game was released on the 29th October 2013, just before the release of the next gen consoles the PS4 and the Xbox One. The plot of the game is based of real world events but in an alternative universe, so the game is fiction. It takes place during a millennia old struggle between the assassins who fight to preserve peace and free will, and the templars who desire to gain peace via control and dominance. What makes this title stand out from the others is the fact that AC IV (from what the community says) is more an experience then an actual game. In Assassins Creed you are allowed to craft your own character and create your own story as much as you want compared to any of the other games in the franchise.

The Production of the Game:

The budget for the game was around $100 million (unofficially) as Ubisoft never disclosed what the official budget was. Although if this was the case, along with the marketing budget of the game, then Ubisoft would have to sell 5 million copies of the game in order to break even. Ubisoft develop the AC franchise and have done so since the release of the first instalment in 2007. The Ubisoft team has 5 main teams working all across the world to help develop their games to absolute fullest. They are located in: Montreal and Quebec (Canada), Montpellier (France), Bucharest (Romania), and Kyiv (Ukraine) which is still up and operating despite the country being at war with Russia for over a year. They have developed many notable franchises in the past such as the Far Cry franchise, the Rabbids Franchise, multiple South Park games, the Just Dance franchise, etc. Their reputation with these franchises seems to be pretty good as they were ranked 80th on the 'top 100 global brands' list and 16th on the 'top 50 media industries' list. Exactly 900 people worked on the game for just of 2 years with development starting in Summer 2011, which is surprisingly less than the 3rd game which had just under 1000 developers. The reason the game sold 15 million copies is because it was released during a time where open world games were on the rise with the likes Tomb Raider and GTA V.

The Audience:

The target audience for the game is primarily young adults from the ages of 18-28 as the game is a PEGI 18. Though don't be surprised if you hear people younger than that play it as they disregard the age range because they think that the content they are playing isn't sensitive to their age. The game I would say is a game for anyone who likes adventure and the unknown. The main gender that plays thinks game is by far men, who take up 81.5% of the players, with women only being 18.5%. This makes sense as Men make up slightly more of the gaming world but it is in the action adventure genre where the substantially dominate over women.

The Marketing:

The game was marketed just like any other assassins creed game with its obsessive action and extreme violence. However, the trailers of the game framed it so that the story was a much bigger part in the game. The trailer is told from the P.O.V. of Blackbeard who tells the audience about the assassins he's befriended and their jobs during the times of pirates. The other trailers only tend to show a mix of the world were the games take place and the unique gameplay mechanics. This shows that Ubisoft and the people behind the trailers were trying to offer something unique to the franchise. The different types of marketing Ubisoft used were similar to that of previous AC titles in the past, an example of this is the image above were the game was marketed on one of the giant billboards in New York City, a place were the game had never been marketed before. For the trailer of Black Flag, one of the main appeals of the game appears to be the fact that this game has pirate warfare. What makes pirate warfare unique is the fact you have to do so much fighting in order to stay afloat; you have to make sure your boat doesn't sink, win sword fights against rivals, stop rivals from getting on your boat etc. This is what makes Black Flag's battles probably the most fascinating and unique of the franchise, because it gives you the most to do in the moment; you main not win every time but at least you tried your hardest. As expected, social media was intrigued about the marketing and the trailer, so as a result the #blackflag started trending across various social media sites like Twitter and Instagram after the first trailer dropped. Overall in the marketing there was a real sense of synergy as both the AC fans and Ubisoft came together to market a game that both absolutely love.

Applying theory - Cultural industries - David Hesmondhalgh:

Ubisoft over time have minimised risk and maximised audiences by releasing a game as often as once every year. This wouldn't be a problem for a low budget indie game studio because their games are quite simplistic and basic, but Ubisoft are one of the biggest gaming studios in the world so releasing a huge game every year is no easy feet. This could reflect criticise on Ubisoft and could bring the "quality over quantity" argument, but the fans seem to have no problem with this so there is a counter argument to that original argument. Social Media has also played a key role in keeping the franchise alive as whenever a new release is on the way, the fans are all eager and reflect their feelings in positive (and sometimes negative) comments on as many social media sites as they can. An example of this would be the trailer for Black Flag as the comments are mostly positive about the inclusion of the famous Pirate Black Beard and how he mentions our protagonist the assassins. He says "it is impossible to kill him" which would not said in the previous trailers but instead others saying they could stop the assassin. This shows that the creators of the game are starting to become self aware and are actually listening to their audiences.

Applying theory Pt.2 - 'End of audience' theories - Clay Shirky:

Ubisoft have a very intimate relationship with their fanbase and individuals. This is most prevalent in the Assassins Creed Community: Into the Creed, where the individuals meet the people behind games. This shows that Ubisoft sees the fans as more than an audience and see them as their own unique individuals who all have the common interest of playing one of Ubisoft's most beloved franchises. They even get behind the developers, giving constructive criticism of what should and shouldn't be put in the next game. This can be seen the most online, with videos talking about the positives and negatives of Black Flag being publishes to websites like YouTube and Twitch. With Twitch especially, the feedback is the most genuine as the fans are playing the game live, so they are not only giving themselves promotion, but

they are also promoting the game and the AC franchise. With all this interactivity from their fan base it does nothing but help the developers keep creating consistently entertaining AC titles for the fans and help the company with their sales to be able to keep making the games.

Applying theory Pt.3 - Reception theory - Stuart Hall:

The Assassins Creed franchise is complex when trying to decide whether it is made for a casual audience or for the hardcore gamers. On one hand you've got a game in the franchise like AC: Odyssey that is more for a hardcore audience, then you've got the first AC that is made for a casual one. These are from comments made by the fans who consistently give their opinions on the games that are incredibly difficult and incredibly easy. For Black Flag, the game is somewhere in between, as the game has probably the most difficult missions in the entire AC franchise like the Siege of Charles-Towne where you have to control a ship whilst fighting off other pirates AT THE SAME TIME. On the other hand, the game is rich with incredible visual imagery that will intrigue anyone who has never played the game before and possibly get them interested in the franchise. This shows that whether you are close to the game or not, you will always see it in a different way to another person who plays the exact same game.