Assassin's Creed News Recap:
21st - 27th August 2022
News
Welcome to a new Assassin's Creed News Recap series, hosted by Colum Blackett (Col_96) from The Ubisoft Star Players Program (Formerly Mentors Guild).
Every week, we will be rounding up Assassin's Creed News and sharing it here on The Ones Who Came Before website. Keep an eye on the site every Sunday for more weekly recaps, or check out our social media links down below to stay updated on everything Assassin's Creed.
1) Assassins in Need Merchandise Sale Launched
We kick off this week's news recap by returning to our Assassin's Creed community fundraiser, which is raising funds for The British Heart Foundation and American Heart Association.
To mark £400 raised for the cause so far, we here at TOWCB launched a merchandise sale featuring a design created by team member Thea Rivedal!
You can now pre-order Assassins In Need T-shirts, which are available in both short or long sleeve until the 13th September.
100% of the proceeds support the 2022 community fundraiser, so this is a great opportunity to make a difference, and also look incredible with beautiful limited edition merchandise!
Huge thank you to everyone who has supported the cause so far.
Pre-order your Assassins in Need merchandise now
2) More Community Creations Shared on Social Media
The 15 Year Anniversary celebrations continued this week with more community content commissioned by Ubisoft.
On the 24th August, the official Assassin's Creed social media channels shared two stunning new designs by Instagram user alenoc.artworks!
There's no doubt that these two designs make incredible wallpapers, featuring an array of fan-favourite characters, paying homage to the series and its history.
Even deeper than that though, the images could also provide a real starting point for Assassin's Creed Infinity, offering a glimpse at how a live-service Assassins' Creed game could look if handled properly.
As September approaches, we are all eagerly awaiting the Ubisoft Forward event which takes place on the 10th, which is set to reveal the future of Assassin's Creed. Perhaps we will also get our first look of the mysterious 'Infinity' project?
3) Ezio Auditore Statue Unveiled in France
Ubisoft proudly unveiled a huge statue of Ezio Auditore at the Saint Mandé studio in France!
It technically would have made more sense to launch an Arno Dorian statue (French Brotherhood) considering the location, but no-one can deny Ezio's fame and popularity. The statue itself stands on a plinth featuring the Assassin insignia, and can be found front and centre at the entrance to the building.
We love the idea that Ezio now keeps watch over the studio, working in the dark to serve the light. The statue also lends itself nicely to fans looking for a photo opportunity, and will find itself becoming popular to those adventuring out on an Assassin's Creed pilgrimage across Europe.
We can also confirm that the statue is not made of chocolate, despite some confusion on Twitter.
Are you going to visit the Ezio statue?
Tag @ACFirstCiv for a retweet on Twitter!
4) Fan Expo Canada 2022
The Ubisoft Booth at Fan Expo Canada 2022 did a great job at celebrating the 15th anniversary of Assassin's Creed. Those attending the event could participate in giveaways to win exclusive collector items, play the games on multiple platforms, and also take photos with life-sized statues!
Ubisoft invited members of the Ubisoft Canada Guild (featuring Assassin's Creed Brand Ambassadors) to attend the event, which for many would be the first in-person AC related event in a very long time. It's so great to see the world open up again once more, hosting events on a large-scale. The Creed bringing people together is a beautiful thing.
5) Assassin's Creed Cosplay Competition at Insomnia i69 Gaming Fest (Birmingham, UK)
Insomnia i69 saw a collaboration between Ubisoft, CosXpo and Insomnia, with the event hosting an Assassin's Creed Cosplay Competition to mark 15 years of the series! The cosplay competition was judged by Tabitha Lyons, Psycadillo, Helen Alice and Magnus Bruun, and hosted by CJ Allan!
Awards:
Best in Show: @creedcosplay
Best Performance:@OthrysEternal
Honourable Mention: @megabethbob
Huge congratulations to Jamie Oakley for winning the Best of Show award!
It's fair to say that the competition was very hard to judge, so well done to all the talented cosplayers who took part and also to the judges!
6) Gamescom 2022 (Cologne, Germany)
The final event featuring Assassin's Creed content this week was Gamescom 2022, which saw Assassin's Creed cosplayers looking for the PureArts booth in order to win Ezio Auditore statues and editions of Orlog!
Over at the Ubisoft booth, all were welcome in the community lounge, a chill zone complete with a bar. This was no doubt a great opportunity for fans to re-energise after what can be a long and tiring day.
Congratulations to all who won PureArts products!
7) Assassin's Creed Animus Next Launched
Ubisoft China launched a new interactive online platform titled Assassin's Creed Animus Next!
The website, which acts as a business site for Abstergo Industries, features information about the company, its history, and future plans! Users can login to the site as an Abstergo employee, unlock information about Assassin's Creed characters and win prizes!
It's so cool to see a platform like this back online. After the closure of both Assassin's Creed Initiates and Project Legacy many years ago, fans have dreamt of their re-activation. This new project seems to be heavily inspired by the latter, as users would unlock information through participating in daily quizzes about the series.
Although the platform and the trailer have released in Chinese, the team over at Access the Animus have translated the trailer and some of the portal menus!
If you're interested in this, we suggest heading over to their Twitter account for more details.
You can view the platform for yourself here.
8) The Ones Who Came Before Meet-up
I was incredibly pleased to be able to meet Gustav Poulsen (host of The Memory Corridor Podcast and member of the Assassin's Creed Partnership Program) during his time here in the UK!
Gustav (Gargudon), who is based in Denmark, has been a friend of the TOWCB admin team for nearly seven years now, and it was an absolute pleasure to meet in real life.
I set off to Manchester via train to meet Gustav, and gave him an insight into what a UK weekend can look like.
Naturally, we ended up in a pub to watch the football, but as is often the case with old friends, we reflected on the past, and how the Assassin's Creed series and community have changed over the years. We also looked towards the future, and both agreed that a more stealth-based direction could be beneficial for the series, leaving dragons and mythology behind.
We'll learn more about the future of Assassin's Creed at the Ubisoft Forward event on September 10th.
Although Gustav is currently taking some time away from social media, he has found comfort in his music, helping him heal after a damaging lockdown period which affected the world in so many different ways. After so many years, it felt like fate to finally meet, right on the edge of a life-changing event in my own life: the birth of my son.
9) The Golden City Synopsis released
In the last recap article, we reported that several retailers including Amazon and IndieBound had listed an upcoming novel titled 'Assassin's Creed: The Golden City', written by Jaleigh Johnson & published by Aconyte Books, which is set to release February 7th 2023!
Here is the full synopsis for the novel!
''A young emperor’s life hangs in the balance in ancient Constantinople, and only the Brotherhood of Assassins can save him, in this action-packed historical adventure from the award-winning Assassin’s Creed universeConstantinople, 867 – A murderous plot is afoot. Assisted by the Order of the Ancients, the emperor schemes to assassinate his son and throw the city into chaos. In response, the Hidden Ones have dispatched Assassin acolyte Hytham to join his mentor, Basim Ibn Ishaq, to infiltrate the palace and foil the emperor’s plan. But that is not his only mission… Hytham’s brotherhood have entrusted him with uncovering where Basim’s true loyalties lie and whether the master Assassin’s personal obsessions outweigh his sense of duty. For Hytham to succeed, he must tread carefully, for Constantinople is a city of shadows, and danger hides in all of them.''
We hope that you enjoyed this Assassin's Creed News Recap! You can look forward to more articles like this, dropping every Sunday!
What was your highlight of the week?
Let us know in the comments!
About the Author
Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program.
As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website.
He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level.
Colum Blackett (Col_96)