Assassins Creed: Mirage is a release that has generated a lot of hype, and for good reason. It marks the return of a classic-style Assassins Creed game, the first since the launch of Syndicate eight years ago. Many wonder why Ubisoft decided to return to this style of gameplay after the success of Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. What was the reason? Simple: the fans asked for it.
Recently, at LEVEL UP, we had the opportunity to interview Stéphane Boudon, the creative director of Assassins Creed: Mirage. During our conversation, we asked him why they chose to develop this title as a return to the roots of Assassins Creed.
According to Boudon, the idea emerged because they noticed that there was a desire in the community for an Assassins Creed game similar to the early entries. Considering this, and the fact that the franchise was about to celebrate its 15th anniversary, they decided that the next step for Assassins Creed should be to go backward.
"We started over 2 years, 2 and a half years ago, in fact, we had just finished the rest of the DLC for Valhalla. And we had this idea that also came from the community about creating a new experience that would take us back to the roots of the franchise. (…) In fact, it was also close to the franchises 15th anniversary, and we thought it was a good opportunity to make this return. And weve already explained that it started as DLC, but we quickly decided to make it a full standard game, and thats how the idea came about," he said.
Boudon also clarified that Mirage didnt start as a DLC that became too ambitious. Instead, there were plans for downloadable content, and shortly after, they realized that an idea like this could become a full-fledged game. Thats how Assassins Creed: Mirage became a complete experience rather than just an appendix in the story of Assassins Creed: Valhalla.
Assassins Creed: Mirage Aims to Capture the Essence of Another Era
Later on, Boudon told us that one of the priorities for Assassins Creed: Mirage was to avoid simply copying and pasting the roots of the series. Instead, they worked to identify the essence of the series and reflect it.
"We decided to define the specific emotion that those games used to make us feel, and with the director and the team, we defined some key pillars, like hiding in plain sight and having a new massive city inspired by the early games. So, after that, we defined every feature that could go in that direction," Boudon explained.
What about you? Were you one of the fans who were asking for the return of a classic Assassins Creed game? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Assassins Creed: Mirage will arrive on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on October 5, 2023.
