Assassins Creed Odyssey

Released on the 2nd October 2018, and published by Ubisoft, Odyssey is a role playing game and 11th major installment in the Assassins Creed franchise. It is set in Ancient Greece revolving around the famous Greek myths, particularly the war between Athens and Sparta.

The Assassins Creed franchise has gained a reputation for revolving around histroical locations and praised for their accuracy so choosing to create a world that is driven by myths and Gods is an interesting decision.

The game had as budget of $500 million and itis estimated the game made around £414 million in profit. The game was developed by Ubisoft, mainly their studio in Quebec. The game took 3 years to develop and required the collaboration of 10 studios overall, 7 of these being Ubisoft. Its estimated around 2000 worked on it.

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Before 2018, there was definitely a gap in the market regarding Greek Mythology games, which is ironic regarding the oversaturation in film and literature. However, another game called God of War was released in 2018 which follows Greek Mythology and some Norse Mythology. God of war as a series has been ongoing since 2005, however the 2018 release is arguably the most popular in the franchise. What would make Odyssey stand out in the market is that it solely focuses on Greek mythology whereas God of War is a mixture. The other major releases from 2018 were Red Dead Redemption 2, Sea of thieves, Marvel's Spiderman and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which definitely highlight the uniqueness of Assassins Creed odyssey.

As Assassins Creed is a franchise, this game is going to entice previously devoted fans rather than new audiences. However, as they explore new settings and history, people who take an interest in Greek mythology may feel inclined to play this game without playing previous games. This may be to test accuracy or simply out of interest. This will be easier for this game than others, as Odyssey introduces two new main playable characters, siblings Alexios and Kassandra whereas the older Assassins Creed games revolved around returning characters like Ezio. It also takes place a setting which has never been featured in the franchise before. Additionally, as this game is quite violent and also tedious, it will mostly be played by adults, most likely male.

The Succeeder is very likely to play this game they are goal oriented and strive for success which this game can offer them. You need to be successful in the game to progress further and they naturally have this motivation to thrive. They also look for quality brands and the Assassins Creed franchise is very popular yet well respected which will appeal to the succeeder.

Assassins Creed Odyssey will also appeal to the explorer. This will be intrigued by the unique setting of the game, in ancient Greece, as this is very unusual for a game.

Furthermore, this game will also appeal to a mainstream audience. Due to the nature of successful franchises, people are familiar with the brand and the type of games they produce. People will play Assassins Creed Odyssey as they know exactly what to expect and this is what appeals them. Even if they are not familiar with Assassins Creed, Ubisoft is one of the most successful gaming companies in modern times so people will trust them just from their status.

The game was announced at a convention called Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2018. It is where software developers and publishers announce new and upcoming projects for the gaming industry which would have helped bring excitement for the new game. One of the ways this game was marketed was a partnership with google. The intention was to promote Google's new streaming service for games, called Stadia. Players who tested Assassins Creed Odyssey on Stadia for over an hour were given a free copy of the game for PC. Ubisoft also collaborated with the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. A video was created specifically for a labyrinth experience at the museum which aimed to showcase the design teams research and interest in the archeology of Crete. This also links back to mythology as Daedalus built a labyrinth underground Crete for King Minos to hide the minotaur.

Ashmolean Museum's article on their exhibition!

Assassin's Creed own website focusses heavily on the Greek inspired elements of the gameplay when they're marketing the game.

"Write your own epic odyssey and become a legendary Spartan hero in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, an inspiring adventure where you must forge your destiny and define your own path in a world on the brink of tearing itself apart. Influence how history unfolds as you experience a rich and ever-changing world shaped by your decisions."

The focus on history will be to specifically entice their already established fan base. When the Assassins Creed games were first released, what made them so unique was their insane attention to detail when it came to historical accuracy. When expanding their franchise Assassins Creed has stuck to their renowned historical influence and showcased this in every game they have released.

Ubisoft's website!

As a part of their marketing campaign, Ubisoft launched a social media campaign called "My life as an NPC". It was a highly creative marketing tactic which had never been done before. It showed the brand to be self aware in the fact they push and highlight their main characters and cast away their others. However this doesn't just apply to Ubisoft, it is a common thing for most gaming companies, which is the element which made this campaign stand out. The assassins creed franchise did face some issues with its audience, the fact the franchise had been going for over a decade at the point which odyssey was released meant they needed to keep their long standing fans engaged and excitement whilst simultaneously engaging with the new generation of gamers. My life as an NPC campaign led to the production of around 50 short animated videos highlighting background characters if different jobs such as farmers and standbyers watching the main heroes. Its a great campaign to engage new audiences as it gives a short glimpse at gameplay, and demonstrates the world which takes place. It is also really effective against an already established fan base as they are introduced to this new historical period which the game takes place in, additionally Ubisoft comes across as quite funny in a humour only people of the game may understand.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey was nominated for many awards. Most notably Game of the Year at the Game Awards, BAFTA Games Awards for Best Game, The Game Award for Best Performance and The Game Award for best Action/Adventure. However, it didn't go on to secure any awards.

Responses of Assassins Creed Odyssey has been mixed among fans. On google reviews, the game has an average rating of 4.3 stars, with the majority of reviews being positive. One review states:

"Personally, I love this game. It has amazing graphics, the combat system is very clean and tidy, your opponents don't just sit on their horses and fire arrows at you, they actually get close to you and have a sword fight with you, the map is a bit big, the start for the first chapter is slightly slower than you would think, but once you off of Kephalonia it is a very, VERY, fun game. As you level up you fight these mercenaries that hunt you down till you are stripped of your life, and if you defeat them you get a nice reward, you have your own ship, you pick your amour if you're going for high-risk high reward"

However, on some fan forums such as Reddit, a majority of the reviews and feedback appear to be negative. If you type in Assassins Creed Odyssey into reddit this is the first post.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: A Second Chance, but Still Not Enjoyable

"Last year, I binged the AC series from Black Flag, Unity, Syndicate, Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. I couldn’t get past the 30-hour mark in Odyssey because it felt too boring. So, I skipped it and spent around 150 hours in Valhalla.

Recently, I decided to give Odyssey another shot on my Xbox Series X, but playing it alongside Red Dead Redemption 2 makes it feel even worse. While I appreciate the AC series trying the RPG route, Odyssey feels empty to me."

This review is specifically interesting as it compares the game to the rest of the franchise and also competitor games such as Red Dead Redemption which came out in 2018 as well.

Interestingly, the game was quite well received from professional critics. The guardian rated it 4 stars and described it as "The writing is sharp and the action fun"

The Guardian's Article

Odyssey received a pegi 18 rating due to sexual material, violence and weapons and lots of blood and gore.

Application of Theory

Cultivation Theory- George Gerbner

Gerbner poses the idea that exposure to repeated patterns of representation over long periods of time can shape and influence the way which people perceive the world around them. A way in which this applies to Assassin's Creed would be that repeated violent behavior will be mimicked and repeated by the audience as throughout most of the franchise the main character progresses through the game with the benefit of their violent behavior. Players of the game, and more likely a younger audiences, may be somewhat inspired by the violence and repeat A positive view point on this theory would apply to assassins creed odyssey directly, throughout most Greek mythology, the heroes and most powerful soldiers are men, promoting arguably sexist ideas that women are inferior. Odyssey combats this by giving the player the choice to choose between playing as either Alexios, or a female character named Kassandra. As most media products including Greek mythology follow a male main character Gerbner argues they will mostly associate Greek mythology media to powerful men, Odyssey breaks this up and exposes their audience to new ideas.

Fandom- Henry Jenkins

Jenkins suggests that fans are active participants in the construction and circulation of textual meanings. As the franchise has a strong devoted fan base, Ubisoft can expect feedback and different interpretations of their work to be shared online. One critic of Odyssey was its historical inaccuracy, which fans will find disappointing as the franchise is famous for its historical settings. However, fans have gone over to reddit to discuss and break down the mythology, explaining it in a way players can easily apply accurate mythology to their gameplay for a more authentic feel.

"So I have a Classics degree, and have never played an AC game before. This game is beautiful. The attitude to the gods is well portrayed, as are the maps generally and the mythology is gorgeous. The game isn't historically accurate in a few ways I've seen so far (only just left the starting island)- the most obvious being how women are portrayed, roaming free without headdresses. But yknow what? I play Kassandra, and I'm okay with a feminist rewrite. Definitely a good buy."

"Kassandra is a skeptic where a lot of NPCs are true believers. The game itself is fairly authentic to the stories, but the lore of Assassin’s Creed definitely contradicts actual greek mythology."

Cultural Industries- David Hesmondhalgh

Hesmondhalgh suggests that cultural industry companies try to minimise risk and maximise their audience. This applies to Odyssey as it is a part of the Assassins Creed franchise who are devoted and will blindly buy any game Ubisoft release. Additionally, it is clear to see Greek mythology is very popular in media (TV show Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Troy and Hercules as movies) however there isn't many games inspired by the same mythology. This supports Hesmondhalgh's theory as it will introduce new audiences who are interested in the mythology, will interest the already established fan base and is a guaranteed success due to the uniqueness of the game.

He also argues that the largest companies now operate across a number of different cultural industries. Fans of the game are able to buy additional DLC than just the regular game, making Ubisoft even more money on top of an already expensive game. Additionally, fans of the franchise are able to buy merchandise such as hoodies, mugs