The Assassin’s Creed Discovery Tour has seen more than 2.3 million players free run, explore, and learn in the DLC for Ubisoft’s massively popular series. In a talk by Maxime Durand the Content Director and Historian on Assassin’s Creed and Discovery Tour, it was revealed that at one point the Discovery Tour’s player count exceeded any other Origins DLC stats.
Durand, talking to the audience at the Ubisoft: Keys to Learn event went on to explain 2.3 million was a conservative estimate, because of the teachers and schools using this technology to highlight history classes. Just in Montreal, 1,300 students played the Discovery Tour last year.
All in all, the success of the historical Assassins Creed spin of has been ‘far far beyond’ the expectations of the Ubisoft team. Durand mentions that Ubisoft’s mission is to enrich the lives of players, rather than making a form of entertainment. The Discovery Tour is just part of their ‘making history everyone’s playground’ ethos, and fans have loved the idea ever since.
The Assassin’s Creed games have always been a spotlight on certain historical periods. Starting off in 1100s Jerusalem, and visiting places like 1776 Paris, 1868 London, and the Egypt of 49BC, the sheer amount of research and historical knowledge in these games makes it a perfect resource for students.
Part of the reason the Tour was created was due to the violent nature of the games. Teachers were finding it difficult to bring Assassin’s Creed titles into classrooms, because as the name might suggest, a lot of assassination goes on. The Discover Tour however is accessible to almost everyone and has now appeared in museums as an interactive learning medium.
From the massive success of the Discovery Tour so far, it’s likely the next Assassin’s Creed title will get a similar treatment, however we’re yet to hear anything about where the Ubisoft team will teleport us to next.