“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react” - Charles R Swindoll
As someone who has been a fan of Ubisoft and their games for years, games like Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia have been a huge source of inspiration for me, and their influence is evident in much of the work that I do today. Ubisoft has always been at the forefront of the gaming industry, delivering innovative and immersive experiences that capture the imagination of players worldwide. I'm thrilled to be a part of the community of fans who share my love for Ubisoft and their games.
In saying this, I was invited to Ubisoft Forward 2023 at the Fortress here in Sydney! The show itself was live from Los Angeles. I can say this is the second Ubisoft Forward event I’ve been to. The last one, I was flown down to Melbourne for the festivities. This time it was hosted in my home city of Sydney. It was this time pushed to the next level and built on what was done perfectly the previous time!
This event would kick off at 11 p.m. on Monday, December 12th, AEDT. However, due to my status as a Ubisoft Star Player and, more recently, a Ubisoft Creator! We were taken out to dinner prior to the event at a lovely nearby Mexican restaurant called Cartel. I will say the pork and cactus tacos were, to put it bluntly, so freaking good! I remember jokingly saying, "I feel like I’m in Far Cry 6." It was because of the Latin American music.
I do need to mention, though, that while this event was taking place, Vivid was on, and there was an installation near the central station while walking towards the Chippendale-Ultimo area. Not super important, I thought, "Hey, this looks like an animus anomaly; maybe I’ll get whisked away to another area at some point near this." That didn’t happen, but I thought it was funny.
For context for people who don’t immediately understand the reference, these are, of course, from the video game Assassin’s Creed, in which the animus plays a part. These anomalies are found throughout the franchise, going back to Assassin’s Creed 2 with the Glyph, which was left in the animus by subject 16 to leave hints to people after him to find out "the truth". Other times anomalies have happened were in Unity with the Rifts that opened small pockets into different times in Parisian history, from Mediaeval to Nazi-occupied Paris and Belle Epoque. Another moment of a rift was in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, where instead of these rifts being sequences because of a glitch, It was because of the intervention of someone who came before. This resulted in a snippet of a WW1 London set around Tower Bridge and a new ancestor, Lydia Frye. These, of course, had appeared in Origins and Valhalla, which were linked to the greater Assassin’s Creed ethos and modern day.
Thank you for letting me have my little nerd's explanation.
Back to the Forward Event!
We of course accompanied the community manager and her intern to the fortress, and as we were early, we were able to sit in the fortress until it became an exclusive event. For me, the other Star player, and even the people in the community team, we were very aware that this was going to be a big night! Which wouldn’t end till 4:30 a.m. I was keen. I can say we all helped put the lanyards together with the VIP passes. I can say that it was nice to be helpful! They were all done in a flash, with us all helping! We were seeing faces; we would eventually start to see faces of people we didn’t recognise, and for me, some I may have only ever seen on LinkedIn. Suddenly, I realised most of these people are Ubisoft staff!
There was general admission, which only had the downstairs areas of the fortress, while we, as VIPs, had a bar to ourselves with some invited guests and Ubisoft staff! This was very exciting.
We participated in one of the activities of the night, the Assassin’s Creed trivia. There were a large number of people participating in this!
I can say our table was made up of us Star Players and a Ubisoft employee whose name escapes me (sorry if you are reading this, I am terrible with names). We had to come up with a name for our team, and I thought of a good pun "Ubi-grateful". It got a chuckle out of all of us. We went with something simple "the Mentor’s Guild". A reference to the fact that the only reason we were here in the first place was that we were mentors in the Mentor’s Guild first.
I do need to make some mention of other teams I remember.
Those chicken skewers aren’t half bad.
Toilet Assassins
Yes, those were actual names.
I can say everyone was in high spirits; we were swearing and making jokes the whole way through!
The questions were fun and great for fans of Assassin’s Creed!
Questions like "How do you say Rest in Peace in Latin? (requiescat in pace)"In what game engine was Assassin's Creed created?" (It’s the Anvil Engine.) What is Ezio’s full name? (Ezio Auditore da Firenze).
A playful quote from our dear friend Laura, the community manager, while giving back our sheet and beginning a new round "You bunch of nerds!". It was great fun!
After all, with 50 questions answered, we came out victorious as the winners of the trivia. We got to take home a poster that was getting unveiled the next day. We got to sign this poster too, and I can confirm that this poster is framed and hanging in the Ubisoft Sydney office. My signature is now in rooms where I have never set foot.
I am probably known as Brendan, the guy with the Assassin’s Creed Reebok sneakers.
In all this excitement, I got to briefly meet and talk to Ed! Edward Fong! In case you don’t know, he is the Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Ubisoft. He is a kind of big boss for the Sydney office. A truly lovely person. He asked me, "Have we met before?" I said, "Not personally". I must have looked like I knew him well. I saw him speak at the Ubisoft Experience back in 2019, in my final year of university. It was a panel about how to get into the gaming industry. In my opinion, this event foreshadowed a lot of what was to come, and that event also made me want to one day work at Ubisoft, as it made me realise it was closer than I thought.
While doing all those things, we had a plethora of food and drink given to us by the lovely staff at the fortress. I can say we had a lot to choose from regarding food, from satay chicken skewers, lamb and herb pies, sausage rolls, Parmi/Parma (chicken parmigiana), mini-Ratatouille tarts, and gnocchi.
I can say I love Ratatouille now. I wonder if a rat in someone's hat made it.
There was a nice cocktail we got called "The Creed." It was a dark swampy green colour with gold glitter in it. It had absinthe and was delicious.
Fun fact: did you know that in late 19th and early 20th century France, notably among Parisian artists and authors, absinthe became a popular alcoholic beverage? Social conservatives and prohibitionists opposed absinthe consumption in part because of its association with bohemian culture.
After the trivia, we decided to go up to the VIP area, where some of the other star players decided to have a short lay down. While I decided to have a drink and a bit of a chat with other guests at the event!
The mingling was great! Until the stream started with the preshow, which contained lots of Ubisoft-related content and focused a lot on the community and the streamers involved, it was nice to see!
Now let’s talk about Ubisoft Forwards itself!
I can say: It was incredible seeing it with a group of hyped fans and Ubi staff. I can say it was next-level. We were all getting tired, but the love of video games was our fuel. The show didn’t disappoint.
I can say I loved the graphic design of the Ubisoft banners, which were used as buffers while going to different ones!
We finally got to see gameplay from "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. That seriously looks like a game that will allow you to truly escape into the world of Pandora as a Na’vi.
We got to see more from Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a game I am so excited about. I love how it’s a call back to Prince of Persia's 2D roots that predated Ubisoft owning the IP. It looks like a good time, and I can’t help but feel it may be inspired a little by Metroid Dread. That is a compliment! I love the way this looks! I love the designs and the music!
I can say I was very impressed by the way Assassin’s Creed: Codename Jade and The Division's resurgence are looking. I haven’t really gotten into mobile gaming other than some games like Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, or Fallout Shelter.
I signed up for their betas, and I am excited about these games! Especially Codename Jade for its interesting Chinese setting and its association with the legendary Assassin "Wei-yu".
Since we are on the topic of surprises, I loved the way Assassin’s Creed: Nexus is looking; it is a VR so far confirmed for the Meta Quest. I do not own VR or have even tried it much outside of the demo for Temple of Anubis at the Ubisoft Experience and the Rabbids VR roller coaster I’ve played at an arcade. The VR game will feature previous series protagonists Ezio, Connor, and Kassandra. This is a novelty that makes me keen on it. I might have to wait to see how it develops, but I am so excited to see more from this!
Another surprise was a game I didn’t think would even be up my alley, The Crew: Motorfest. I am so keen on this game! I love a good racing game; however, I find they don’t seem to hold my attention for very long. I grew up playing an old V8 supercar game when I was a kid, and Jak X Combat Racing was one of my favourite racers. This game is set in beautiful Hawaii and seems to be taking a note from the Forza Horizons book. It's looking great, and I can't wait to explore Hawaii! Always wanted to go there!
Now for the big showstoppers of the show—not to say none of the others wasn't—the whole show was full of bangers!
Assassin’s Creed: Mirage finally showed us gameplay. I can say that I am very excited! The gameplay showed us an assassination in the city of Baghdad. We got to see the return of the weapon wheel and the overhaul of the UI. It truly looks like it is returning to Assassin’s Creed’s roots. I will make a comment, though: there is a mechanic shown that has the Assassin, Basim, marking targets and suddenly teleporting and killing all the targets marked. I can see this DNA of a mechanic going back to the Mark and Execute in Splinter Cell conviction. I love that mechanic in that game, as it makes you feel like an operative taking out a room quickly. John Wick before John Wick was a thing. I will have to say I need to experience it myself before making an opinion. As much as I enjoy the idea, I fear it could take away from the strategy and placement that assassinations could bring. I can say it looks incredible, though. I love the Islamic Golden Age setting. I am excited to explore Alamut!
The show ended with a fantastic little demo for a little-known 1970s science fiction series that may or may not belong to Disney but was developed by the legendary George Lucas.
Yes, I am talking about Star Wars: Outlaws. In the lead-up to the announcement of this game, we had no idea what it was going to be. We knew it was being developed by Ubisoft Massive and that it was an open world. Everyone was speculating about a Mandalorian game; I personally was hoping for a Sith Lord game. What we got was entirely original. Why is this exciting? This is the first-ever open-world Star Wars game! The timeline, it's set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. We play as Kay Vass and her adorable companion Nix! In this game, we play as a Han Solo-style scoundrel trying to outrun the Empire and do odd jobs in the underworld of the Star Wars galaxy. I can say this game looks incredible with ship combat and flight. I really do think this game looks like a Red Dead Redemption-style game, or even what I’d imagine a Jak and Daxter game would look like now! Simply put, it looks incredible, and I can’t wait!
These were some of the highlights of the show; we left at 4:30 a.m. Before we went our separate ways, we made sure to get a selfie!
I walked back to Central in the cold morning, Sydney being deserted. I had a long trip back to Penrith, which I didn’t get back till 6:20 a.m.
I slept for most of the day when I returned. It was exhausting but worth every minute.
In reflection, it makes me respect and love the work Ubisoft produces more. My dream of breaking into the gaming industry is still on my mind. I am even more motivated because I love the industry, the people in it, and their skills and talents. Gaming is truly at an exciting time now.
I am deeply grateful to Ubisoft for inviting me to this amazing event! Thank you!
I'm not above a shameless plug, so here it goes: Ubisoft, If you are perusing this and you are seeking an intern, runner, intern's intern, concept artist, or designer, I am your man! I'm an ambitious and imaginative young professional looking to broaden my horizons. Furthermore, I brew a superb cup of coffee.
Every day, I wake up with a fire in my belly and an unshakeable determination to make my dreams a reality.
All those dark times I've been through have made me stronger and more determined than ever before. The lyrics from 'Lost Crown' by 2WEI from the trailers of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown resonate with me: 'All those dark times I was made for, pushed me to the edge but I stayed sure. Heard you need a warrior, that's what I came for, one to pay the cost of the waged war.' I'm ready to face any challenge that comes my way, and I won't back down until I've achieved my goal of getting into the games industry. I'm driven, I'm passionate, and I'm ready to fight for what I believe in. Every day, I'm cutting through all the obstacles and enemies that stand in my way. I know that with hard work and determination, I can find the lost crown and make my dreams a reality.
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. IT DOES” – William James
“Just look at all that I’ve found searching for a lost crown, but the journey ain't complete. It's only right I show you who I’m meant to be” – The Lost Crown by 2WEI, Joznez, and Kataem