Launch of Assassin’s Creed

Assassin’s Creed, released on November 13, 2007, by Ubisoft, introduced players to a bold new vision of historical action-adventure gaming. The game followed Desmond Miles, a modern-day bartender with ancestral ties to a secret order of Assassins. Using a machine called the Animus, Desmond relives the memories of his ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad, a 12th-century Assassin during the Third Crusade. The game featured a blend of stealth, parkour-based traversal, and open-world exploration across historical cities like Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus, rendered with unprecedented detail for the time. While its gameplay had some repetitive elements, Assassin’s Creed was widely praised for its ambitious narrative structure, philosophical undertones, and innovative mechanics. It introduced the now-iconic Leap of Faith, fluid climbing systems, and an immersive historical setting grounded in real-world events and architecture. The game’s success sparked a major franchise that would span numerous time periods—from Renaissance Italy to Revolutionary America, Ancient Egypt, and beyond. It also redefined how games could blend historical fiction with modern sci-fi storytelling, establishing Ubisoft’s reputation for world-building and expansive open-world design.