More than 15 years, a bankruptcy and a legal battle later, “Assassin’s Creed” creator Patrice Desilets is finally looking ahead with “1666: Amsterdam”, a game that returns to the past.
Set during the European witch hunts, the action-adventure was warmly received when presented at Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles in June. Desilets, 52, said he was nearly in tears before taking the stage, calling the moment the end of a “very personal” battle.
Developed by a team of about 70, “1666: Amsterdam” puts players in control of a witch and spans three eras, 1666, 1999 and the present. The first two chapters entered PC early access on Tuesday, with the final game expected to contain about a dozen chapters. Desilets said he was “very satisfied” with early feedback.
He conceived the game after visiting Amsterdam in 2011, shortly after leaving Ubisoft Montreal, where he helped create “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” and the first two “Assassin’s Creed” games.
Development began at THQ Montreal but was halted when the studio went bankrupt in 2013 and was acquired by Ubisoft. Desilets was later dismissed, leading to years of legal disputes. He regained the game’s rights in 2016.
He subsequently founded Panache Digital Games and released “Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey” in 2019, before returning to “1666: Amsterdam”, whose development was further delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Desilets also addressed criticism over generative AI, saying AI elements used during pre-production were removed from the final game.
Despite Ubisoft developing its own witch-hunt-themed “Assassin’s Creed: Hexe”, Desilets said he has no interest in returning to the franchise.
“I want to be the Clint Eastwood of video games,” he said, “to be old and keep making video games.” -AFP
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