How many people are working on Assassin's Creed 2? A lot.
Ubisoft Montreal's Sebastien Puel, producer on Assassin's Creed 2, is in charge of 450 people (still not confirmed if he drives a Dodge Stratus). Those 450 people, however, are in charge of bringing Ezio Auditore de Firenze to life before the Ubisoft-imposed March 10 deadline arrives.
Puel claims the group is roughly three times the size of the original crew of folks employed to create AC1 and that, among those folks, 75 percent have been kept on board from the nascent team. "Making [Assassin's Creed] from A to Z took around four years ... it's a very good thing we are keeping most of the core members who envisioned the first Assassin's Creed," he says, adding that the original team had "thousands of ideas" left out of the original project, ready to be implemented this time around. We've made no secrets about our love for the original and would be lying if we didn't express our excitement over getting to play it in a few weeks at E3 2009. Hopefully not all 450 developers will be demonstrating the game for us.
[Via Videogamer]
Puel claims the group is roughly three times the size of the original crew of folks employed to create AC1 and that, among those folks, 75 percent have been kept on board from the nascent team. "Making [Assassin's Creed] from A to Z took around four years ... it's a very good thing we are keeping most of the core members who envisioned the first Assassin's Creed," he says, adding that the original team had "thousands of ideas" left out of the original project, ready to be implemented this time around. We've made no secrets about our love for the original and would be lying if we didn't express our excitement over getting to play it in a few weeks at E3 2009. Hopefully not all 450 developers will be demonstrating the game for us.
[Via Videogamer]














Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
skyzbig @ May 19th 2009 1:28PM
They all look like mentalists.
WREturns @ May 19th 2009 1:30PM
This reminds me of a Verizon commercial...
NaeemTHM @ May 19th 2009 1:44PM
Can you kill me now?
Jack @ May 19th 2009 2:12PM
It's be more like,
"Can I kill him now? NO?! You mean you want me to listen in on MORE conversations first?!"
*grumbles*
DBuck_Eye @ May 19th 2009 3:56PM
You're good.
Turd Ferguson @ May 19th 2009 6:08PM
this game looks almost as good as your updated pic. I laugh out loud whenever i see franklin bluth.
InFaMoUs1- @ May 19th 2009 1:30PM
that picture looks like its from the 90's
Lunastra78 (PSN: lunastra78) @ May 19th 2009 4:57PM
It even smells like it's from the 90's.
Siggy @ May 19th 2009 1:32PM
Does this mean we can expect 20 minutes of credits like we saw at the end of GTA IV?
ClarkyCat @ May 19th 2009 1:52PM
It could well be the first game with a credits sequence longer than the actual story mode! I'll be hammering buttons regardless.
Lunastra78 (PSN: lunastra78) @ May 19th 2009 5:04PM
They should make the end credits as an extra level, where you stalk around Ubisoft Montreal's offices and assassinate all 450 employees in turn. And as they die they can scream out their respective names and job title.
"Sebastian Puel, Producer.... Aaaaaarrrghhhh!"
pr_master @ May 20th 2009 1:10PM
@Lunastra78
hahah Best idea Ever, lol
SecretAgentHam @ May 19th 2009 1:33PM
really looking forward to this game. the first was frowned upon too much i think. i had a great time playing that game... except for the killer glitch on the PS3 that had me suspended in midair till i reset. but that is behind us now. do want this game!
PSN: John-Paul-Jones @ May 19th 2009 2:17PM
Hopefully the developers won't make #2's missions boring and repetitive a la #1. The cities and landscapes were absolutely gorgeous to roam around but I feel that they lost something when those missions started to suck
J @ May 19th 2009 4:32PM
Yeah, I definitely enjoyed the first one... until a glitch at the end of the game that had a mirror image of Altair... that I could fight, but I would then die if I killed him... with none of the other enemy soldiers being responsive at all.
It ended up having something to do with a wired controller being plugged in the 2nd slot... it was very strange and it took me a while to figure out that it wasn't a part of the game.
pete @ May 19th 2009 1:33PM
love this picture/caption. one of the best from the past few weeks
Jerk Face @ May 19th 2009 1:36PM
Can't... fucking... WAIT.
Gemini Ace @ May 19th 2009 1:42PM
Where's Jade Raymond?!?!
NaeemTHM @ May 19th 2009 1:47PM
You fool! Jade Raymond doesn't actually exist. She's merely a fembot created to boost sales. You would have known that if you unscrambled all the secret messages at the end of Assassin's Creed.
Gemini Ace @ May 19th 2009 1:54PM
Yea, because riding a horse across the country was so compelling that I finished the game. Suuuure.
Dirty @ May 19th 2009 1:59PM
Ill just roll over and ask her...
OMGOMG @ May 19th 2009 2:01PM
Dirty wins. Dirty wins!
kentuckyfried @ May 19th 2009 2:04PM
Ah, somebody already asked the paramount question. =D
The Baron @ May 19th 2009 2:44PM
Don't you only have to ride the horse to each city once?
I found the game just fantastic, despite not liking a lot of critically acclaimed games. I put in a new graphics card yesterday, so I've been playing through the game to admire the visuals in something other than low settings; and I couldn't be more psyched for the sequel.
Chris @ May 19th 2009 2:36PM
Just started playing the first one again last weekend. Unfortunately last summer I fell victim to the glitch that locks you in the laboratory and prevents the game from resuming. Incredibly frustrating since there is only one save file, and I had already completed most of the game.
Since I've gone back to it, it feels much less repetitive if I just take it one memory block at a time and walk away. I absolutely love the free-running mechanics.
samik @ May 19th 2009 1:45PM
That is probably at least as big as the size of the biggest teams around like Mass Effect, FF13 or Fallout 3 - should translate into something really good if they use all those resources well, but wonder why they need that many. The original team created quite a vibrant world with a much smaller team anyway.
Nieker @ May 19th 2009 1:46PM
I count at least 10 girls on the picture (the black one is still unconfirmed). And none of them looks like Jade.
This makes me sad.
HighFiveJesus @ May 19th 2009 2:38PM
the only thing that should be less important than which gender is making your game is how close they resemble the internets unrealistic expectations of cute girls in general.
Latin_Trident @ May 19th 2009 1:48PM
450 people are not working on Assassins Creed 2. 450 people are being pimped by the Pimp of Montecristo.
Top Cat @ May 19th 2009 1:48PM
Wonder if they have any script writers this time. Could be a good idea after the mind numbingly obvious "twists" and horrible conclusion of the original.
Antagonist @ May 19th 2009 1:55PM
What conclusion?
dabamf @ May 19th 2009 1:55PM
Which one in the picture is actually the assassin? He's so well hidden and blended in that it's hard to tell. My money's on the unassuming dude with glasses, ten o'clock!
Captain Planet @ May 19th 2009 2:08PM
450??? Can we get that many to finish DNF?
DeepFriedSushi @ May 19th 2009 2:11PM
you just helped me to realize something...
DNF - duke nukem forever
DNF - did not finish
it was just one big elaborate joke.
R @ May 19th 2009 2:18PM
@sushi.
Congrats. You caught up to the people in 2005.
A little bit more effort and youll reach us up here in 2009.
Malkmus @ May 19th 2009 2:23PM
@sushi
You're a bit late to the party
Google "Duke Nukem did not finish" and see how many thousands of results it brings up
Captain Planet @ May 19th 2009 2:26PM
DNF - Do Not Forget
*pours one for the homies*
butaneko @ May 19th 2009 2:17PM
Cool, make a good game and I'll buy it. Promise!
carg0 @ May 19th 2009 2:23PM
oh, so does this mean we wont be seeing more group photos of the "entire team" with jade raymond standing front row center?
because it was my understanding she was the inspiration for everything in the first one...
Tep @ May 19th 2009 4:24PM
If you mean getting extra attention from an audience (tits) that would have otherwise passed on the title (more tits with smiles) then yes.
baby sea tuna @ May 19th 2009 2:28PM
So...which one of those 450 people is the low-talker that convinced the assassin to wear that puffy shirt?
Dirty @ May 19th 2009 2:48PM
Probably Eduardo the trans-gender QA tester.
THE Ezio Auditore de Firenze (PSN slycooper_rocker) @ May 19th 2009 5:30PM
thanks. thanks a lot, tuna.
shadowhowl1900 @ May 19th 2009 3:33PM
he still looks gay. like altair's gay cousin
TreyIM @ May 19th 2009 3:38PM
That pic of Ezio in hi-res looks SICK! I thought it looked hot on the cover of Game Informer but sheesh, that looks great. Cannot wait for this game. I liked the first one although it was lacking a bit but seeing as it is a nice foundation for this Ubisoft team to build on, the sequel should be incredible.
THE Ezio Auditore de Firenze (PSN slycooper_rocker) @ May 19th 2009 5:30PM
thanks
Kdiggy @ May 19th 2009 5:09PM
The first game had a lot of potential, but the doing the same 5 missions (which weren't that good) over and over again, killed the game for me. It's amazing that critics has the nerve to give it good reviews. I wouldn't be surprised if a large number of people who got fooled into buying the first game, avoid the sequel like the plague.
That said, if they add more variety to the missions, it could be a great game. I will not be surprised if the sequel doesn't sell as well though.
GRegory @ May 19th 2009 4:59PM
What is this?
A verizon commercial?
Ryan Hamilton @ May 19th 2009 5:21PM
Jolie Molie
Gripman @ May 26th 2009 12:45AM
Um, after reading the article in GI, I'm more than likely going to buy AC 2. I freakin' like the first game, so why not?