Assassins Creed Origins is the 10th instalment of the widely loved and respected Assassins Creed series. It was released in October of 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.
What makes it different from the other games in the series?
One of the many changes, or fixes as fans would claim, would be the new combat system that was introduced. For a game like Assassins Creed, the combat must feel natural and fluid to be enjoyable to play without it becoming frustrating. Origins introduced a redesign of the old combat. Where the original games focused on a simple dodge-counter mechanic, players now had access to blocks, dodges, rolls, new ranged weapon types, light and heavy attacks, and even a parry. There is no button mashing at the right time based on the symbols shown on the screen. Any enemy can attack at any point of time and so can Bayek. This gives the fans more control and adds more challenge as the players are subject to controlling how Bayek chooses to fight.
It also featured a brand new story in which it takes us back to the very beginning of the conflict explored in the earlier games and shows the foundation of both orders, as well as the introduction of the Apple, Staff of Eden and two ancient alien artefacts. We are introduced to our new protagonist, Layla Hassan, who investigates ancient wonders for clues of an apocalyptic event, creating a new focus for the series' story. More significantly however, was the change in game direction. Origins took a step away from the traditional, more linear stealth gameplay and turned it into a more wide and varied open world RPG; fans see this as a game-changer.
Production
Budget - sources state that Ubisoft invested $140-150 million into the development of Origins.
Assassin's Creed Origins is a 2017 action role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. Ubisoft are a development team that care for their fans, especially when it comes to Assassin's Creed . As well as caring for, they also involve the fans in regards to the making off the games; the fans are recognised. Andrien Gbinigie was an Assassins Creed fan, uploading videos to YouTube about the series and specifically tips and tricks for newer players. His passion for the game, led to him being recognised by Ubisoft and they got in contact with him. He now has a place on the development team as a product manager.
Fans also become a part of the marketing. In the series' early days, videos were going viral across different platforms of people replicating the game's iconic parkour mechanics. Ubisoft recognised this and actually got in contact with the creators of the videos. One creator specifically, Devin Supertramp, uploaded 'Assassins Creed meets parkour in real life.' Now holding a whopping 72 million viewer count, it was viral at the time which led to him becoming a part of the marketing for the film. He was contacted by Ubisoft, who stated 'they would love for him to promote the film', in which he released a 'Day in the life of a stuntman' video as a way of promoting the film.
In terms of how many people worked on the game, Ubisoft Montreal had help from a team of nearly 700 people from other Ubisoft studios around the world. Ubisoft have a tendency to make sure that the games they make feature well detailed and documented events from the time. The team consulted Egyptologists and historians extensively to ensure the setting was authentically represented in the game.
How does it's uniqueness reflect the games market in the era it was released?
Through using multiple studios, the game had less limits. Ubisoft described this model of development as "co-development" where, unlike previous instalments in the series, the support studios had more freedom and their work was more integral to the whole. The co-development model allows each area in the game's world to be unique. This reflects that the game market at the time had started to become progressively less restricted in how the games specifically presented themselves, the abundance of new mechanics and systems signify this. Assassin’s Creed: Origins was the third best-selling game in the Europe and Middle East region in 2017. This suggests that people were looking for refreshing features in a game at this time; Origins has sold over ten million units.
Target Audience
The target audience for Origins was tailored around old fans with the implementing of new features but also people interested in Egypt and Egyptian culture. The PEGI rating given to the game signifies that the target audience is 18 year old and over. However, there is an element with games like these in that the developers are aware of the more teen-based audience the games attract. The target audience is most likely 17- 25 year olds as the original games in the series have ben out for over a decade now and original fans of the time may still play the games. With the game featuring new changes with the mechanics, gameplay and setting; this would most likely appeal to the explorers who look for challenge and discovery, seeking new experiences. Rubicam would suggest that the explorers of the World would take interest in Assassins Creed Origins as they look for challenge and discovery, but most of all new experiences. Origins offers all of the above, therefore it would appeal to the explorers as a change in gameplay or mechanics would not intimidate them.
Marketing - How it was marketed
The Hype - digital marketing
Building game hype is everything.
Hitting every social media platform with ambiguous marketing that intrigues long-time fans of the franchise with suspense around where the game will be set, what updates to the game interface have been made, and who your mystery protagonist is key to launching an actual campaign in the world of gaming.
On Twitter
A later Tweet revealed that E3 2017 would announce the details of the game and offered an email subscribe CTA to stay up-to-date with the latest information from Ubisoft and YouTube.
When E3 finally announced that the game would take place in ancient Egypt, it was non-stop, high-quality content across all channels.
On Instagram
Since Origins had some amazing gameplay scenes and interesting characters and locales, their social team chose to profile each separately and phase in gameplay and cutscene trailers throughout their feed.
On YouTube
As any gamer knows, YouTube is your best friend. From walkthroughs to spoilers—if you are into that sort of thing—YouTube is your go-to source. https://gaming.youtube.com/ are YouTube gaming channels dedicated solely to specific games.
By June 2017, Assassin’s Creed Origins was the #1 mentioned game on social media.
The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One worldwide on October 27, 2017.There were five special editions of the game available when it launched. The extra time and marketing efforts afforded the company 1.51 million units sold the first week of launch, compare that to the .91 million units sold for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, the previous game in the franchise. Trailers were released online and in public :
The Trailer
Ubisoft are known for 'one upping' themselves regarding the graphics in each game. Origins does not disappoint. The trailer specifies that with Xbox One X, you are able to play the game in 4K ultra HD & HDR, while the gameplay footage in the background looks stunning. The open- world Egypt landscape is revealed, along with a new protagonist. These are all appeals of the trailer that could influence someone wanting to purchase the game. The gameplay signifies that all of the violent, fun combat from the other games will also be in this game along with more mechanics not seen in prior games in the series', for example being able to use an eagle to scout out enemies and create a safe route for your character. An appeal of this is that there is everything a player is familiar with and more to learn.
The stunning gameplay and sheer vast landscape revealed in the trailer reflects the game's budget. In some ways, AC Origins does follow conventions of 21st century games in that it introduces many elements found in role-playing games and an overhauled "hitbox-based" combat system. The stealth action-adventure genre of video games is common today, from other franchises like Farcry.
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