AC Community Questions: Hayden Bird (TombAssassin)

Col: Hi Hayden, thank you for joining me for this introductory interview. Please could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role within the Assassin's Creed Community.

Hayden: Thanks, Col, very glad to be a part of the team once again. I think some stuff about me is I love to write, first and foremost, and love my favorite franchises such as Assassin's Creed and Harry Potter. I have always loved to write since as long as I can remember. Its always been my passion as I recall writing short stories for my elementary school book fair or writing fan fictions of cartoons I love! My role with TOWCB is really enjoyable and allows me to stretch my creative knowledge as far as I can! With the team I write articles based on all things Assassin's Creed. Whether it be news, guides, or theory articles, I just love contributing as much as I can!

Col: In June 2024, you rejoined The Ones Who Came Before's Assassin's Creed Partnership Program, known as the @Isu_Network. How have you enjoyed your time working with our content teams?

Hayden: Since joining in June of this year, it personally feels great being back. Some of those are still here whom I worked with, Including Col, which started in early 2020, the beginning and peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, while some are new people I got to meet, and will continue to meet others and strengthen relationships with the ones I currently know. 

Col: When did you first start writing articles, and what in your opinion would you say has been your most popular / recognisable piece?

Hayden: I first started writing when I was in grade school, like I mentioned above, but those were more short stories about cartoons or Nintendo games. But as for writing articles I first officially started with sports writing. I wrote for a small online San Diego sports website, i managed ton publish two articles which was good considering I was 14 at the time and had a lot of distractions in my life at that time. I wrote about the football and baseball teams in that area. As for my most recognizable piece I'd say it would be my one great article I wrote as a member of MuggleNet, which is a long-running Harry Potter news website. I wrote a great professional article there late last year about the broadway show Harry Potter and the Cursed Child becoming available for schools to perform on their own. The article took over a week to write and get published, and when it did, it got viewed a lot from both the twitter post they made and on their website! I parted ways with them towards the end of 2023, which eventually led into my position with TOWCB again! 

Col: What are some of your most recent Assassin's Creed Community Projects, and what are you working on currently?

Hayden: Some of the more recent Assassin's Creed projects I have been working on are a mix of genres! I have done a news article and a opinion based article as well, and what I can say is much more is on the way! I have lots of ideas going through my head almost all the time, so the flow of creativeness stays the same, but the work is always, in my opinion, top class. I only want to publish articles that are well done and make a difference, it's key to a successful career!

Col: Have you visited any of the locations from the games? Which Assassin's Creed game is your favourite and why?

Hayden: Unfortunately I have not had the pleasure to visit and explore any of the great historical settings shown in the Assassin's Creed games. I have been planning trips to, for example, Greece, where I'd love to see the real world setting of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, but Europe trips are quite expensive, sadly! My main goal as of right now, and has been for the past three or so years, is the visit the Bahamas! But ironically not for the beaches and resorts, but the pirate history! Which we all saw in Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag! I am hoping to make this trip in the next few years!

My favorite game in the Assassin's Creed series is Black Flag! Surprisingly I wasn't a huge fan of the game at first, but after playing it for hundreds of hours during Covid lockdown, it became my favorite! I originally played this game on release day for PS3 in 2013, but really did not get super attached to it until quarantine! 

Col: Have you attended any events within the Assassin's Creed Community? Do you have a favourite Assassin's Creed community moment/ story you would like to share?

Hayden: Unfortunately I have yet to attend an Assassin's Creed community event. I really wanted to see the Assassin's Creed Symphony when it released, but sadly was unable to go! I am hoping that being apart of TOWCB team again, that it might lead to opportunities to meet with the community at a potential Ubisoft or Assassin's Creed event, that I could experience it with friends here in TOWCB family!

If I had to choose a favorite Assassin's Creed community moment it would definitely be the release of the Assassin's Creed movie back in late 2016. I was talking about it with all my Assassin's Creed friends on Twitter and Facebook, and went to see it opening day! I was so excited to see this movie that I had to get a ride to a theater an hour away from my home because my local theater was only playing the movie in the evening when I had plans scheduled! Safe to say me and my twitter friends had a laugh about that one!

Col: What would be your dream setting for the upcoming AC Netflix TV show or future game?

Hayden: My dream setting for the exciting new Assassin's Creed Netflix projects would be Ancient China! It is actually a setting I'd like to see FULLY covered in a mainline Assassin's Creed game. Of Course, Ubisoft released Chronicles China several years ago, but I would like to see it adapted into a full on game or in the TV series! I hope the Netflix series may touch on this era of history, or potentially explore multiple setting is multiple seasons!

Col: Do you have any personal AC goals you would like to achieve?

Hayden: If I had an Assassin's Creed I'd love to experience one day, it would be a position writing for a narrative role in game development at Ubisoft! My dream has always been to be a game story writer, and working at Ubisoft has been a dream of mine since I was young! I am hoping to continue to grow as a writer and maybe one day take on a major position in the games industry!

Col: What would you say is your most significant community achievement to date? What is your favourite part of being a community member?

Hayden: My most significant community moment would have to be the hype train for the release of Assassin's Creed Syndicate! I talked about this game with all of my gaming buddies on both PlayStation and social media. I had just gotten a PS4 months prior, and I was late to playing Unity, but made it a point to be ready for Syndicate on release day. I remember wearing all my Assassin's Creed gear and walking into GameStop to pick up my pre-order of the game. The staff there at the store loved my outfit and dedication so much that they took my picture in the store to post on their website! When I got home, all I remember is running upstairs to download the game! I was glad to share this memory with my friends in the Assassin's Creed community, which is why Syndicate is still a special game to me! So being a community member then, and now, has been an honor!

Col: Do you collect AC merchandise? If so, what is your favourite item?

Hayden: I USED to collect Assassin's Creed merchandise, but overtime the merch has been increasingly hard to come by on the internet, especially on Amazon. I do basically all my shopping online, as I don't drive for various reasons so getting to a store is challenging on the regular. In my opinion, it used to be WAY easier to buy and collect Assassin's Creed gear. Now I can't find much available on Amazon, which is a shame because as I remember the selection used to be huge!

Col: What advice do you have for people looking to get in to games journalism and creative writing?

Hayden: My advice to those who love to write, and those who want to get into game journalism is to write, as much as you can, whenever you can! The beauty of writing is even if you are having trouble finding a position with a blog or website, a place to submit articles, then write your own personal projects and ideas and just keep them to you for now. I have countless for fun articles in my Google Docs account, from times where I was not currently apart of any writing team. Doing these practice articles will help improve your writing skills and can also potentially be used as a writing sample one day, should you nail down a interview with a website.

Col: Where can our community members find you online?

Hayden: Any community members who would like find my page or connect with me on social media, I am most active on Twitter/X on @TombAssassin and I have been using this app since early 2012, and have been on different account throughout the years until I found a good home in late 2016, which ironically I created this account because of the Assassin's Creed movie. I have been active on this account every single day since then! I also am relatively active on Instagram mostly in the past year @H_Bird25 and tend to post on my story a lot. I prefer twitter, as most my following is on there, but I do love every now and then hopping on Instagram and updating my story with cool pictures I take, including some self promotion on my writing progress! As for other platforms such as Facebook or Snapchat, I am not on there! Two platforms are personally enough for me, as it gets overwhelming for me to manage so many different accounts! Regardless, I hope to connect with more friends in the gaming community on my two socials anytime I can!