Assassin's Creed 3's greatest feature was pushed to the side until Black Flag because Ubisoft was worried that 'the tech wouldn't work'

In hindsight, Assassin's Creed 3 is both fascinating and fundamental to the later development of the series. At the time, the expansive wilderness and smaller settlements felt restrictive compared to the series' massive cities, but it gave Ubisoft a model it would carry on successfully many years later in Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla and Shadows. And then there were the ships.

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag remains one of the high points for the Assassin's Creed, with its nautical open world and piratical antics, but it was Assassin's Creed 3 that really kicked things off by letting players explore the Eastern Seaboard and parts of the Caribbean in naval side missions. Some of its changes proved to be divisive, but pretty much everyone seemed to agree that captaining a ship felt incredible. So why wasn't there more of it?

"So it couldn't be a huge part of the main story, because we weren't certain it was going to work," he continues. "And then when it was cool, then you're like, 'This is great.'" It was indeed cool. So cool, in fact, that Ubisoft went and built a whole Assassin's Creed out of it, with Black Flag, and then did it again in the Templar-focused Rogue spin-off. Odyssey, and to a lesser degree Valhalla, made ships an important part of their respective adventures too.

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Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.

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