Assassins creed syndicate was released in 2015 and it is based during the second revolution in London and follows the story of two twins Jacob and Evie Frye. It is the ninth major installment in the Assassins creed franchise following the release of assassins creed: Unity in 2014. This instalment of the game is different to the Unity as it follows the story of the twins instead of just the one main character which was Arno Dorian .The Syndicate installment also featured DLC pack that were released after the original release of the game and it was of the well known serial killer Jack the ripper which is set 20 years after the original storyline which will have gave a reason for people to return to the game after they had finished the original part of the game. Assassin's Creed Syndicate received positive reviews, with praise for its visuals, characters, narrative, and level design. However, the combat, open-world design and vehicle gameplay were met with some criticism.
The Assassins creed syndicate game is made by a video game company based in Canada Ubisoft Quebec and the Ubisoft company has worked together to create the many other games that came before and after this installment. Compared with other games released in the same year, 2015, for example Lego Dimensions and rocket league are completely different as they are more child friendly whereas Assassins creed games have never catered to a younger audience however a game that was similar to this game was Batman Arkham Knight because it is an open world action packed game which is very similar.
Audience
The audience for this game will be predominantly male as the main playable character is male however this particular game will introduce a female audience as the character of Evie fyre will attract this audience and they will most likely be of ages 18-28. I think the religion of the audience will be catholic as the setting and time period where it was set was predominantly catholic. I think they will be part of the struggler in Young & Rubicoms 4C's as they will seek escape and explorers as they are looking for something new and different
Marketing
The game had an unusual type of marketing which was done through the use of a bike ride through the streets of London riding penny farthings in bowler hats
There was also posters created that represent the time where the game is set that were used to advertise the game
The Tv spot trailer that was released in Europe shows the story that can be shown in the game and also uses the ideology of comradery which relates to the need for affiliation near the end where all the working class people come together to attack the templars who are oppressing them because there is a clip where it says oppression has to end just before the twins come together on the rooftop and they both jump of the roof in sync where it introduces the female protagonist and playable character Evie Frye.
The website for assassins creed syndicate focuses on the storyline of the game because it sets the scene and storyline. However it also allows viewers to be able to purchase the games on all of the different platforms which are XBOX one PlayStation 4 and PC via the Ubisoft store.
Industry
The game made over $1 billion in consumer revenue during the December month after the release. The game was also nominated for 3 BAFTAS in 2016 for artistic and audio achievement and best music. It also won an award for the best video game trailer in the golden trailer awards. Some reactions to this game can be seen on YouTube comments of gameplay for example on a video Mr. Wharf commented "The game was underrated " of a full walkthrough of the game: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm4WlDrdOOSbht-NKQ0uTeg.
Reception theory
The dominant hegemonic position is that the audience will be attracted for companionship because of the two main protagonists of the twins which could also shows there is female audience for this game because one of the twins are female. A more traditional gamer would most likely play this game as it featured on consoles like PlayStation and Xbox.
The negotiated reading for the game will be that they like the gameplay and storyline but do not care about the historical context.
The oppositional reading for the game would that they think that the gameplay has went in the wrong direction of changes with the gameplay and storyline
Cultural industries- David Hesmondhalgh
The assassins creed franchise would agree with David's idea of minimizing risk and and maximizing audience because it is part of a franchise which shows that they know what it is going to be like because of the prequels
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