Guess what percentage finished ACII

By Robert Purchese Published 20 October, 2010

It's "huge", says Ubisoft.

A surprising 60 per cent of people gave up on story-led action game Assassin's Creed II before the end.

Which means 40 per cent did finish the campaign - and Ubisoft's mission maker Gaelec Simard reckons that number is "huge".

"In the industry, the number of games that are finished is more like five to ten per cent," he told Joystiq.

"We all think people finish games, but when you start asking around, you'll find that a lot of people don't get to the end.

"We want the player to experience the whole package, so that's something we're trying to push."

Only 35 per cent stuck with Assassin's Creed 1 until the end, Simard revealed.

But those AC1 statistics were based solely on Xbox 360 Achievements, whereas the more accurate AC2 figure was compiled from built-in stat-tracking service Uplay.

Simard's comments tally with those of Killzone 3 producer Steven Ter Heide, who told Eurogamer earlier this month that the "majority" of people didn't finish Killzone 2.

"Funnily enough, not a lot of people complete the game. That's something you see for a lot of games. We track a lot of that data," Ter Heide added.

Assassin's Creed 1 scored 7/10 on Eurogamer; Assassin's Creed II scored 9/10. The plot revolves around a man being transported back to the time of his genetic ancestors to uncover various secrets about Templars and shady organisations.

Assassin's Creed II.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (67) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • yupyup #1 2 years ago

    Maybe the other 40% were PC players with a shonky internet connection.

  • FreakyZoid #2 2 years ago

    40% really is quite impressive. I wonder how many thought the ending was balls once they got there though.

  • the_sas_man #3 2 years ago

    I've almost finished Flashback

  • muscleblade #4 2 years ago

    I always finish my games and i never complain about a games short lenghts. If only 40% complete games how come so many complain that gams are too short, expensive and whatnot.

  • eleven63 #5 2 years ago

    Be interesting to know how far people get into a game before giving up - this year has been a success for me, yet to not finish a game - have only played 6, mind, as online has taken over (BFBC2) - but did finish ACII

  • reelbigkris #6 2 years ago

    I got to the bit after meeting Danny Wallace - the beginning -, turned it off and then played something else and forgot about it for months. I really need to stop being distracted so oft.. "OOOOh Shiny red ball!"

  • Jimster71 #7 2 years ago

    I thought that in AC2 it was fairly easy to get 1000 gs. It's probably the only full price game that I have all the achievements for.

  • muscleblade #8 2 years ago

    I wonder how many % got all achievements/ trophies

    I did and it was a cakewalk. Even the feathers.

  • Deckard1 #9 2 years ago

    good going for such a long game.

  • PseudoDuck #10 2 years ago

    For my sins, I have the full 1k on both games. AC2 was the more enjoyable ride to 1000 but I liked them both enough to complete the actual story.

    Can't understand why people would buy something with as much hours of gameplay as AC and not even finish the story. It's not like it's a game where the plot takes a back seat.

  • randompanda #11 2 years ago

    I know it's a given considering the internet's role in gaming today, but it does annoy me still to hear that they're tracking my progress on a single player title. I bet they can even tell when i've paused it to go make a cup of tea!

  • BurnTheAction #12 2 years ago

    If only on average less than 40% complete a game why so much ballache about game length.I complete every game I purchase, it's like only watching half a film or reading half a book, can't understand it.

  • DiamondIce #13 2 years ago

    I found AC to be incredibly tedious and dull but the sequel was really enjoyable and I was quite sad when it ended.

  • Osahi #14 2 years ago

    I finish the majority of my games, when they're good that is. I only finished ACI because I didn't have to many other games at that time on PS3. If I'd had the financial capacity then to buy more regularly I wouldn't have. Boring as hell after an hour or 6... I finished ACII because I thought it was awesome, even Platinumed it. So Ubi, please make AC:B as good as ACII
    Edited by Osahi at 20/10/10 @ 10:46

  • VandelayIndustries #15 2 years ago

    I can't help but feel this is a dig at ACII's director who has only just set up shop at THQ, both story's seem too close.

    Anyway, I 1000/1000'd the game earlier this year and I'm about to get the Platinum too. Loved the game.

  • ozzit #16 2 years ago

    Call me mister cynical, but I smell pre-emptive justification for a very short campaign in AC 2.5 - "We only made it short so that more people could finish it, honest!"

  • beckyh #17 2 years ago

    At what point do they decide a gamer is no longer going to finish a game?
    I know a few people who may play part of a game, put it down and then go back to it a few months later. Its not like their is an achievement for putting it back in the box and never touching it again. It is interesting to have all this game playing data but this is something which cannot be gauged.

  • bodypopper #18 2 years ago

    I enjoyed AC2 for the story which I completed and enjoyed. Spending hours of my life searching for polygons etc to earn 'Achievements' is not what I buy games for.
    Horses for courses I guess, speaking of which the mares in AC2 were strangely on the large side.
    Edited by bodypopper at 20/10/10 @ 10:54

  • Ninja_Tino #19 2 years ago

    Remember though, a lot of gamers are thick and tend to play games for the mayhem and violence. I remember being in Gamestation when a couple of youths picked up Fallout 3:
    Youth 1: 'This looks sick, blud. Shooting zombies and shit.'
    Youth 2: 'Nah, man. It's fucking shit. Just a load of talking.'
    Many don't care about the plot and once they're bored with the game back to the shop it goes. Very sad.

  • Zombie-Hamster #20 2 years ago

    I would've finished this game but my PS3 died about 3/4 of the way through it and I didn't have a backup (yes, entirely my own fault!)... Not sure yet if I can bring myself to start all over again...

  • terminalterror #21 2 years ago

    muscleblade: "If only 40% complete games how come so many complain that gams are too short, expensive and whatnot."

    I suspect that the 5-10% who complete most games make up a higher proportion of people who complain about games being too short than the 90-95% that don't complete games.

  • metallicorphan #22 2 years ago

    i loved AC2,and was happy to get the 1000/1000...although admittedly i wasn't keen on the timed Tomb Raider type jump scenes

    as for AC1 i loved it when it came out,but i can't for the life of me keep with it when trying to go through the story again,as like people have said it feels much more tedious this time round,perhaps that's AC2's fault..still as with AC2,i love the open world horse riding inbetween towns/cities

  • Buztafen #23 2 years ago

    Strangely enough this article mentions 2 of the only games ive completed in the last year or so...

  • linea #24 2 years ago

    There was a point in it where my interest waned a bit- just after the beginning of the Venice section it all got a bit tedious, but I persevered and it picked up again after that.

  • vizzini #25 2 years ago

    Well I finished the game on my original ps3, while the OtherOS firmware débâcle was ongoing, so I couldn't sync my trophies or access PSN for them to get my stat.

    The save file transferred to my slim was locked by at the 30% trophies I had from the previous synchronisation, and even reloading the save file didn't fix the issue either, so their figures will be at least 0.00002% out.

  • Alivada #26 2 years ago

    ASC started great got slow towards the middle and picked up again.
    I didn't think the ending was terrible just a bit silly.

  • I\'mListening #27 2 years ago

    Of the 40 - 50 games I own I think there are somewhere between 3 and 5 that I haven't finished - 2 or 3 cos they were not that good and the other 2 because I haven't started them yet. Why spend so much cash on games and then not finish them (unless of course they are utter crap)?

  • Caimbeul #28 2 years ago

    If i like a game, i wil ALWAYS finish it. I have been trying to finish Baldurs Gate 2 & Icewind Dale 2 for years! but something has inevitabley happened to my machine. This time i am going to finish them then move on to the remaining 30-odd on my klist of ones to finish. I need an income without having to work!

    I gave up after a couple of hours on the 360 veersion of AC2. Just could not get into it! Also the fact that i kept thinkning of uncharted every time the lead character spoke didnt help. At least i only paid £12 for it!
    Edited by Caimbeul at 20/10/10 @ 11:23

  • Zanuah #29 2 years ago

    I finished it, hell I loved the game so much I did everything, EVERYTHING! :p

  • Uncle_Fishboy #30 2 years ago

    Any game that ends with you repeatedly punching the pope in the face is worth completing in my book

  • kendoji #31 2 years ago

    I rarely finish my games, but I did finish this one!

    ACII provided virtually zero challenge, which is exactly how I like my games. Loved it.

  • AdamAsunder #32 2 years ago

    The only reason more people didn't complete it was length. The bloody thing literally plays itself. The platforming requires no dexterity on the part of the player and the combat is just a button mashing fest....again. Although this time instead of whoring counterattack, it's all about the disarm.

    Shoddy game, if it was last gen they wouldn't have had the flashy hd graphics to mask over the pitiful 'gameplay'.

    I'm getting a bit sick of all these, supposed core games diluting the principals of gaming.

    Rant over.

  • FreakyZoid #33 2 years ago

    > diluting the principals of gaming

    Oh no! My precious principals of gaming!

  • Darren #34 2 years ago

    Assassin's Creed II is a really great game but I confess that I've yet to finish it although I'm actually very near the end I believe. Keep meaning to return to it as it was really enjoyable (unlike the first game!) but other newer games keep distracting me.

    Mind you, I've only just completed Dead Space (on the PC) yesterday so while I might not finish many games straight away, I do complete them eventually as long as I liked them! Kameo took me 18 months and Mass Effect on PC took 14 months (but just in time for the sequel). Psychonauts probably holds the record for the longest to complete though, started it on the Xbox and finished it on the PC four years later!!!

  • rojjer #35 2 years ago

    gah this game gave me the Zzzzzzzzzzzzz's, was like a hard grind playing it - just not my kind of game I guess. I didn't finish it and won't be picking up the new one

  • Mkwone #36 2 years ago

    I finished both games story levels and 100% the second game.

  • firef7y #37 2 years ago

    The slightly shonky controls annoy me. You stick to everything, it doesn't have the accuracy of Crackdown or the fluidity of Mirrors Edge. Gaming stories bore me to tears mostly and this is the same. I should probably return it.
    Edited by firef7y at 20/10/10 @ 20:50

  • Crim101 #38 2 years ago

    you buy a game to play it and enjoy it. not to complete it. if it can't hold your attention or something better comes along then its no surprise most people don't complete games. if you want a story buy a book. the most important thing about games is and always will be the gameplay.

  • MadCaddy13 #39 2 years ago

    I want to know gown many people completed FFXIII

  • MadCaddy13 #40 2 years ago

    How >:(

  • bad09 #41 2 years ago

    I don't think any PC owners finished it over this weekend in the US thanks to their severs going down again apparently, pirates were able to though so you know where to go to play Ubi games OK from now on. Ubifail LOL....

  • Olemak #42 2 years ago

    A mate borrowed my copy of ACII before I got around to finishing it. I know he dodn't finish it either.

    But regarding Killzone 2: the final boss battle was a right pain - repetitive and unforgiving. That gets old very quickly. All in all, the end was just plain horrible game design. After 100+ tries I gave up on it. That certainly put me off getting the sequel, move and 3D or not. The game still has to be fun to play - and finishable. The statistics clearly show that KZ2 really wasnt finishable.

    I admit that I sorta suck at games, but still - I'd made it to the final battle when they made it impossible to progress.
    Stupid Colonel Radek boss fight with endlessly respawning, bazooka-armed henchmen. :(

  • ShineDog #43 2 years ago

    All of these "why is everyone complaining about length if only 40% of people are finishing games" comments are just popping my mind.

    Understand that you, reading this forum, COMMENTING on this forum, puts you in the minority. If the average person doesnt finish a game, not only is he not going to complain about it's length, he isnt going to be posting about it. It'll sit on his shelf and he'll play his thousandth game of FIFA.

    Even I, as a fairly hardcore gamer, have a huge pile of games that I haven't finished. Games where I hit a wall, or lost interest in a tedious section.

    Remember that Steams stats show that a significant proportion of people didn't finish Portal, a 3 hour game.

  • funkateer #44 2 years ago

    I could not get into AC1 and quit that after an hour or so, so I never even started ACII

  • Gromit #45 2 years ago

    @PATAU
    You're right - as is bloody common now, they released dlc pretty much on top of the main game release, then have the nerve to sell the full game with the parts they stripped and call it the "complete" edition. I saw that brand new for £13.00 online yesterday, so I think I'll wait for AC Brotherhood to come down to the same price, incase they pull the same stunt again.

  • Lukus #46 2 years ago

    I thought AC scored an EG 6/10?

  • geeza2020 #47 2 years ago

    @FreakyZoid - Hahaha, fantastic +1
    :D

  • Colin8703 #48 2 years ago

    I don't have much time to complete many games these days although the intention is always there.

    I did however finish AC2 despite disliking the first one.

    Throughly enjoyed it too.

  • sickpuppysoftware #49 2 years ago

    I really must finish it some day. I got distracted. KZ2 I got right to the last boss then gave up.

  • Soton4084 #50 2 years ago

    I can believe this. It's the only game I've ever bothered to get a Platinum trophy on. I hate achievements which are boring and repititive, but somehow the achievements on ACII kept me interested. Not to mention the brilliant storyline.

  • davisorle #51 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • makeamazing #52 2 years ago

    Never finished AC1 (didnt get half way i guess), didnt help with no trophies on the PS3 version... completed AC2 100% and it was great fun.

  • RevanNL #53 2 years ago

    Guess how many of that 40% were cursing at Ubisoft for cutting two chapters out of the game? Must be like 90% or something.

  • Phishfood #54 2 years ago

    I belong in the former percentage because I got bored half way through and I won't be buy another AC game ever.

  • Zebula77 #55 2 years ago

    That's weird, ACII is one probably the game I've completed the highest percentage of Tropies on (ca. 80%). It didn't take me that long either (I even did all of the rather difficult riddles).

    As a contrast, I didn't finish either of the Bioshock games. Go figure.

  • Notallowedhere #56 2 years ago

    ACII didn't do it for me, i felt i gave it a good go but just didn't work for me. Gave up on meeting that Danny 'comdian' Wallace and traded it in.

    Also agree on KZ2, gave up on the final boss. It frustrates the hell out of me that the developers appeared not to actually want you to finish their game.

  • ShineDog #57 2 years ago

    @Notallowedhere You literally meet danny wallace before you gain control of ezio. Which means you ran through the abstergo level combat tutorial and traded it in. Unless you were using ridiculous hyperbole, but it does sound like you barely touched the game. Which sucks, because it's not untill you are done with the prologogue that the game really takes off.

  • IronCladChicken #58 2 years ago

    "how come so many complain that gams are too short, expensive and whatnot."

    Casual gamers make up the majority of the market...
    It's the hobby gamers who tend to complain.

  • Zaiz #59 2 years ago

    Is there a statistic for people who laughed there asses off at the end due to secret alien conspiracy?(And beating the pope down with your fists?)

  • abot #60 2 years ago

    If by complete you mean getting every achievement/trophy then the answer is no I have never completed anygame but counting the amount of achievements and trophys is not my definition of completing a game.

    I always complete my games in so far as finishing all quests etc. There are certain achievements/trophies that require you to play in a certain way or go back to play again to in order to get and I usually don't go back to play a game just to get an achievement.
    Edited by abot at 20/10/10 @ 16:14

  • cak #61 2 years ago

    Well, count me out. I've played this for maybe 3, 4 hours at best. Don't know why, but I suspect that starting Demon's Souls soon after has something to do with it.
    Still can't bring myself to give it a 2nd chance, however.

  • Kaminari #62 2 years ago

    "We all think people finish games, but when you start asking around, you'll find that a lot of people don't get to the end."

    Most famous example to date: BioShock. How many freaking times did I hear friends bashing BS2 as being "futile", when most of them never got past Dr. Steinman in BS1.

  • Ashcroft #63 2 years ago

    I wonder what percentage missed the hug?

  • dutzan #64 2 years ago

    Please don't use this in the future as an excuse to make games last only as long as a movie - 90min or 2 hours.

  • Oceadge #65 2 years ago

    I only have about 2 hours per week to play games so I rarely finish any. For me an ideal game length would be under 4 hours.

  • homerbert #66 2 years ago

    @Ninja_Tino - What's wrong with not enjoying story based games? You can play Civ, Tetris, most FPS, Street Fighter 4 etc and not have to think about story. The thing is, I'm quite into story in other mediums. I'm a writer* and the vast, vast majority of game writing is too dire to pass mustard in a straight to video martial arts film.

    There are exceptions, like the LucasArts adventure games, but they're few and far between. Even in well written action games, I get really twitchy when I have to stop playing and watch a cut-scene involving characters I just can't get invested in. More often than not they feel like loading screens with delusions of grandeur.

    I'll be on board story-driven games when they get better, but until there's a cleaner integration of game and storytelling and until the writing gets better, I'm happier with action games. We'll get there, but it might take a while.

    Eoin
    *Not a very good one, but enough to know lazy writing when I see it.

  • jakemct@gmail.com #67 2 years ago

    This 60/40 split to me is indicative of the difference between gamers and dabblers. If you can't bring yourself to finish a fantastic game like ACII, you are just a dabbler. How could you not finish this game? I played it non stop for 3 days until I beat the campaign, ran around for two more weeks gathering feathers and finishing every mission until I had 100% completion. Of course, I had already bought all the uPlay addons because I finished the most recent prince of persia title (another one that only losers wouldn't finish)

    I think the point of the matter is that if you actually like the game, play it through. What the hell point is it otherwise?