The Impact of Assassin's Creed Origins

When ‘Assassin’s Creed Origins’ released back in October 2017, it made an immediate impact both for fans of the series, and those who were unfamiliar with the series. ‘Origins’ introduced many new aspects to its arsenal that had fans uncertain of the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games suddenly interested in the game for once. Fans loved the new and improved look that the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series had badly needed. By doing this, Ubisoft saved the briefly tarnished reputation that previous titles in the series had gotten, due to familiarity and the development issues mostly. Ubisoft had to return in a big way, and make an impact on the gaming world for fans who had lost their interest in the series after the controversy surrounding the previous two ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games that were released before ‘Origins’ : Unity and Syndicate.

Ubisoft had much to prove, and the initial stamp they put out to the gaming world was necessary to the future success of the series. Ubisoft decided to explore Ancient Egypt, and created a faithful adaptation to what life in that era would have been like. Ubisoft aced the important task of returning with a bang and it propelled ‘Assassin’s Creed Origins’ to one of the top selling games in the entire series, and still to this day a popular fan favorite. 

Ubisoft was authentic to the era that was Ancient Egypt. They did their research on the time period and created their game as if it were an exact copy of what we would expect from life during that time. The protagonist of the game, Bayek of Siwa, is still considered by many to be the franchise's best main character, as he had charisma and was overall very likable. Which helped the game succeed by strong performances from the entire cast and also from Bayek’s voice actor, Abubakar Salim, who played his character with emotion and professionalism. His performance propelled the game into the success it has become today. So, Ubisoft did a great job not only making a great impression for the skeptical fans, but taking their time to perfect their game, as ‘Assassin’s Creed Origins’ was the first game in the series to take a full calendar year off since 2009. Ubisoft re-evaluated the series after the disappointments of 2014’s ‘Assassin's Creed Unity’ and 2015’s ‘Assassin's Creed Syndicate’. They knew in order to gain the trust of the fans and the media again, that they would have to be original, and not repeat the exact same formula with the same familiarity the franchise had known so well. ‘

Origins’ was completely different from the past instalments, and also started a new trend in the series which is commonly referred to as the “RPG” games. This title, meaning “role playing game”,  is in reference to the drastic shift in gameplay mechanics that the previous games had not seen before. In terms of media reception and sales, ‘Origins’ was a smash hit, but this new formula did generate a form of resistance in the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ fanbase. Some fans were not willing to accept the change in the series, and rather preferred the original format the games had used every year up until its creation. However, while there were select fans who did not like this change, the majority of the community did, and it also attracted fans from other game genres to become new fans of the series, creating fans coming together with existing fans merged together continued the grow the size of the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ community throughout the world. 

What ‘Origins’ does best, is not necessarily just its shift in formula, but more to the fact that it is overall a very good game. Not just under the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ label, but also in the aspect that the majority of what ‘Origins’ was, happened to be exactly what the gaming industry needed. ‘Origins’ did an excellent job being a great game, rather than just being known as a great ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game. It shows that there is a difference and separation in the industry, that a game can be good in its respective series, but not great outside of its umbrella, but ‘Origins’ defied that stereotype and became considered a great game in every aspect it could have. 

‘Origins’ still remains an outlier in the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series, and marks the end of one era, and the beginning of another. For the most part, Ubisoft has stuck with the same formula that ‘Origins’ created. It has proven to be a success in both the sales category, and critical and fan reception. What ‘Origins’ did was bold and taking a major risk. There was no doubt this drastic change in the identity of the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series we are so familiar with today, would make certain fans unhappy. Change is almost always going to be met with positive feedback, but also will be met with resistance. It is hard to accept change, no matter what area of life or entertainment that could be considered, as there will inevitably always be some fans who love the idea, but also fans who prefer the previous format. This is unavoidable, and Ubisoft clearly knew this when creating ‘Origins’. 

Ubisoft had to take a risk in their decision making for ‘Origins’. Following such a drastic change in your formula could go very good, or very bad. It could go either way depending on the quality of the product created. Ubisoft clearly had faith in ‘Origins’, and we are glad they chose to take this risk, and believe in their game. Starting fresh from a long-running, and frankly very popular franchise is difficult. Ubisoft had a serious challenge to face when deciding which direction to take when creating ‘Origins’, and it was clear in all aspects that they hit the jackpot. The ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series we know and love today may very well be non-existent today without the impact and importance of ‘Origins’. So many things could've gone wrong and against Ubisoft, but they trusted in their creative vision, and in the end created a pure masterpiece that still has a major impact on both the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series, and the gaming world itself.