The release of Assassin’s Creed Unity to the Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC just slipped from October to November. Ubisoft announced the delay Thursday with a lengthy post on its official blog explaining that it needs extra time to fine tune the game.
We have an important announcement regarding the release date of #AssassinsCreed Unity – http://t.co/oLTIglz6oK
— Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) August 28, 2014
The new release date for Assassin’s Creed Unity is November 11 in North America. Europe, the Middle East and Africa will receive the game on November 13. “This being a fully next-gen game, it requires a lot of work, a lot of production, and a lot of learning,” says Ubisoft Senior Producer Vincent Pontbriand. “It’s always hard to be precise and to quantify exactly how much work is involved. So as we get close to the finish we often realize we’re near the target but we’re not quite there yet.”
The final two weeks will be spent making “minor adjustments” to the game that “can make a big difference,” according to Ubisoft. The development team has completely redone the Parkour mechanic and recreated much of Paris so that’s a good bit of adjusting. This is generally the last minute bits of polish and bug fixing that can make the difference between a positive game experience and glitch-filled experience.
Ubisoft has come under fire from gamers in the past for buggy releases in the Assassin’s Creed franchise so it will be important to eliminate as many as possible prior to release. That includes confirmation of a release day patch plus future patches for the Unity post-release.
“Making games is not a precise science. It’s a leap of faith. There’s a good level of subjectivity and creativity,” Pontribriand explains. “We have a bunch of us who have spent two, three years or more on this project. It’s a huge personal investment. People have been truly dedicated to this game. For them it’s also important to make a game that they can be proud of.”
Assassin’s Creed Unity available November 11 [NA] / Nov 13 [EMEA]. More here >> http://t.co/4JUAx5Sjf6 || pic.twitter.com/sPP5bSyj0v
— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) August 28, 2014
Pontribriand understands that Assassin’s Creed fans will want to get their hands on the game as soon as possible. However, he promises it will be worth the wait.
“We honestly appreciate their commitment to the game and their patience. It’s just a couple more weeks. And it’s going to be worth it,” he said.
The game release schedule for November indicates that November 11 is not a bad release date for Assassin’s Creed Unity . Halo: The Master Chief Collection is out the same day and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare comes out the week before. Both are first-person shooters though and don’t always necessarily appeal to the same group of gamers.
Possibly of more concern is that Assassin’s Creed Rogue is out on the same day for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. While Rogue is only out for last-gen consoles, gamers that own a console from both generations and were interested in Rogue will have to make the tough choice between finding the money and time to grab both at the same time or push one off until later.
What do you think of the Assassin’s Creed Unity delay? Is it worth it and will affect your planned game purchases this fall? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via Ubisoft]