Alex Hutchinson, creative director on Assassin’s Creed III, argues that Ubisoft’s willingness to embrace risk played a major role in turning Assassin’s Creed into a household franchise.
In an interview with FRVR, Hutchinson discussed how the series has shifted over time. He suggested removing the increasingly peripheral modern-era thread that began with Desmond Miles, describing it as something he would cut from the recent entries.
“It’s effectively a ‘forever’ franchise,” Hutchinson says, noting that each installment introduces a new protagonist, setting, and era, which creates a flexible framework for reinvention. He applauds Ubisoft for having the audacity to change the series’ genre mid-run and hopes they continue to evolve.
Hutchinson emphasizes that, historically, Ubisoft’s leadership—many of whom were company founders—valued experimentation and gave teams room to innovate.
“By contrast, some publishers bring in executives with little development experience,” he adds, criticizing firms that prioritize corporate metrics over creative risk. Hutchinson points out that, while executives from non-gaming backgrounds can succeed, companies like EA have often been led by people who prioritize short-term metrics and are reluctant to greenlight risky new projects.
Because of that cautious approach, Hutchinson argues, large publishers rarely pursue truly new IP unless an extraordinary opportunity arises. Ubisoft, he suggests, has historically been better at spawning new franchises. As an example of an unexpected success, he cites the surprise launch of Apex Legends—an unlikely live-service triumph for its publisher.
These days, Ubisoft itself has shifted: it has solicited external investment and created subsidiaries to oversee major series, and long-time franchise lead Marc-Alexis Côté has recently left the company.
Assassin’s Creed III’s controversial, marathon opening was intended to address a common narrative challenge in games, but the team only realized it ran too long during the final two months of development.
Source: gamesradar.com
