The world of video games often hides its deepest secrets behind polished trailers and grand launch events. But sometimes, former developers pull back the curtain, giving us a glimpse into the pressures that shape our favorite titles. That’s exactly what happened when Alex Hutchinson, the former director behind Assassin’s Creed 3 and Far Cry 4, shared some candid thoughts.
Hutchinson left Ubisoft in 2017, before Assassin’s Creed Origins hit the shelves. His time at the company, particularly while working on Assassin’s Creed 3, revealed some surprising directives. This installment, while not a bad game, felt quite different from its predecessors. That unique feel, it turns out, largely stemmed from intense internal pressure from Ubisoft itself.
Gamesradar+ spoke with Hutchinson, and he laid out a clear picture of what was happening. Ubisoft pushed him and his team to make games last longer. Their goal was to keep game discs "in the tray" for as much time as possible. This strategy aimed to delay resales. At the time, GameStop was the main player making money from resold games, not the developers or publishers. Game designers were asked to pack in more content, stretching out playtime.
Hutchinson believed this was a practical solution for the series. He felt adding multiplayer modes wouldn’t be as effective. "Action-adventure games back then seemed very expensive when you looked at play time per hour," Hutchinson explained. "So, the best and most effective thing was to add RPG elements."
Gamesradar+ noted that Hutchinson didn’t outright say this was the primary reason Ubisoft shifted the Assassin’s Creed series. Yet, the pressure and decisions made at that time left him quite puzzled.
"I find it odd that this is the only franchise that has changed its direction but still kept its old fanbase," Hutchinson mused. "It was a risk, but it worked well. Still, I always thought it was a strange choice for a series aiming for annual releases."
"I worried that if you played Assassin’s Creed for 200 hours, you wouldn’t want to play it again the next year," he added. "I think it was very lucky that the big changes in the series made it feel fresh compared to other franchises, and that helped them survive. But my heart is still with action-adventure games, not stat-building ones. I miss the old days."