Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag : Case study2

Ownership and Franchise

Ubisoft Entertainment, a French video-game company, published the Assassins Creed which is an open world action adventure stealth video franchise created by Partice Desilet, Jade Raymond and Corey May. The Assassins Creed series depict a millennia-old fictional struggle between the Assassins who are fighting for peace with free will and the Templars who desire peace through order and control. Players are able to control an Assassin in the past history most of the time while also playing 'Desmond Miles' or an Assassin Initiate in the present day who hunt down the enemy being the Templars. The Assassins Creed series originated out of ideas for the sequel for Prince of Persia: The sand of times which was made for PlayStation2. They developed a narrative where the player would control an Assassin that's served as a bodyguard for a non playable Prince. Following release of the first Assassins Creed in 2007, Ubisoft Montreal and other Ubisoft studios use the series to present games from various historical periods, striving for historical accuracy while conceding some elements for gameplay.

Maximising Income

During the first week of sales in the United Kingdom, Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag became the best selling game on all available formats ahead of battlefield 4. However, the games opening sales in the first week were down 60% compared to 2012 Assassins Creed III. Ubisoft the fall in demand on uncertainty caused by the upcoming transition to eight generation consoles. According to NPD groups figures, Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag was the third best selling game of November 2013 in United States, only behind Called of Duty: Ghosts and Batter-fields 4. In may 2014, Ubisoft announced that the game had shipped over 11 million copies. As of 2020, the game has sold over 15 million units worldwide. 

Production/Distribution

Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag was released Worldwide for PlayStation and Xbox on October 29 2013 while the Wii U was released on October 29 2013 in North America, November 21 in Australia, November 22 2013 in Europe and November 28 2013 in Japan. The Wii U version in Europe was delayed from its Original 1 November 2013 release date. It was then announced on March 1 2013 that the game will also come to the PlayStation 4 on May 21 that it will release on the Xbox One. Both versions ere launch titles, with the PlayStation 4 version releasing on Novebn.  for Xbox One. 

Marketing and Advertising

Ubisoft was determined to make Assassins Creed an annual franchise which results in games that hit the market before they were ready and severe fan burnout. Ubisoft then took some time to let Assassins Creed rest and brought it back last fall with Assassins Creed Origins. Extra time and marketing benefited the franchise as they were able to afford the company 1.51 million units that sold the first week of launch compared to the .91 million units sold for Assassins Creed Syndicate which is the previous game in the franchise. Furthermore, by June 2017, Assassins Creed Origins was the top mentioned game on social media platforms such as Youtube, Twitter and Instagram. Offering cross-franchise DLC is a great way to promote one game series to strong fans.

Maintaining and developing the audience

Assassins Creed was able to maintain its audience by releasing instalments and have annual releases so that their audience can receive consumer satisfaction with how much content they are provided which makes the audience feel as if they have spent their money wisely on buying Assassins Creed. In order for Ubisoft to develop their audience, as well as frequent instalments, their audience also streams their gameplays and promotes them on different social media platforms where they are able to gain more people who could be interested in buying the Assassins Creed game for themselves. This will benefit Ubisoft as they are able to gain more profit off of these streamers.

Reception

The Assassins Creed series have received mainly positive reviews from critics many who have called Assassins Creed "the standout series on [the seventh generation] of consoles" It has also been praised for its ambitious game design, visuals and narrative but criticised for its technical issues and annual release of instalments, which has sometimes led to general feeling of over-saturation and loss of innovation. On September 2019, the series had sold over 140 million copies with over 95 million players which became Ubisoft's best selling franchise and one of the highest selling video franchise of all time. By October 2020, total sales of the series had reached 155 million. 

Regulation   

The Video Standards Council is an Administrator of the PEGI age rating system which is used over 30 countries throughout Europe. In 2012 the PEGI system was incorporated into UK law and the VSC was appointed as the statutory body responsible for the age rating of video games in the UK using the PEGI system. The Games Rating Authority is a sub-arm of the Video Standards Council, and exists to specifically license the release of 12, 16 and 18 PEGI rated games in the UK. Ubisoft was happy to keep Assassins Creed at PEGI 18 as the game consists of lifestyles which are not suitable for children such as: violence, bad language, discrimination  drugs, fear, gambling and sex which can take a huge tole on what children that are unexperienced and uneducated can learn from the game.  

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Assassins Creed fits the genre of a Stealth game; a stealth game is a type of video game in which the player usually uses stealth to avoid and overcome antagonists. Stealth games usually allow the player to remain undetected by hiding, sneaking or using disguises. Moreover, this type of genre has employed: counter-terrorism and rouge themes, with protagonists who are special forces operatives, special agents, spies, ninjas or assassins. In this case, Assassins creed fits all the basic criteria and is therefore known as a Stealth game. In Assassins Creed there are many different personas such as: Lady Persona, Assassin persona, Slave persona and more. Throughout the game you are able to switch between personas in the dressing chamber and are able to buy additional outfits at the store to customise your persona character. When playing the game, there are many different controls that the player has to get used to for example shooting, ducking, hiding, attacking and more. As the game continues, it will also help you by putting up hints and tasks that the player has to be able to complete before moving on to the next. The main goal of the whole game was to ensure peace in all things as Assassins believed that political assassinations and the death of the corrupt would bring peace and a true sense of security to the common people. 

Although being a stealth video-game, Assassins Creed explores different types of representation going from having bisexual characters, including more people of colour but mainly focusing on women and how they are being treated. In Assassins Creed there are moments where the female personas in the game are being seen as a power move, for example in Assassins Creed Odyssey there was a female lead and to add she was also greek which hints more diversity in the game.