Assassin's Creed 2 team is 450-strong

By Robert Purchese Published 19 May, 2009

Three times bigger than on AC1.

Assassin's Creed 2 is being made by a team of 450 people, which is three times more than worked on the original game.

That's according to producer Sebastien Puel, who told Now Gamer that 75 per cent of the Assassin's Creed 1 team remains.

"Making [Assassin's Creed] from A to Z took around four years," he said. "It's a very good thing we are keeping most of the core members who envisioned the first Assassin's Creed - they know the project very well."

Furthermore, Puel added, those returning developers have "thousands of ideas" that weren't implemented in the original game but may make their way into the sequel.

Assassin's Creed 2 will be released this autumn on "all current-gen platforms", which presumably means PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and probably DS.

The sequel follows noble-turned-killer Ezio, who stalks around Renaissance Venice and Florence, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci, providing plenty of opportunities for Templar plots and Dan Brown twists.

All we know is squashed into our Assassin's Creed 2 gamepage. Look to E3 in a couple of weeks for more.

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.

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

You may also like...

Comments (81) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • retr0gamer #1 3 years ago

    Meaning 3 times as many samey mission types.

  • Zomoniac #2 3 years ago

    If more than 0 of those 450 people are working on a sci-fi futuristic storyline I will kill them all. Likewise if more than 0 of those 450 people is a voice actor with a yank accent.

  • X201 #3 3 years ago

    Three times as much aggravation with the combat mechanic?

  • ademkermad #4 3 years ago

    @retr0gamer

    I came ready to post that exact same thing ffs...

    *Sigh" I'll go with "Hopefully 3 times as much mission variety then"

  • Azazel #5 3 years ago

    Hurhur, Three times as much... oh.

  • Malkotheslick #6 3 years ago

    I betcha this is the the same as AC1, its fun for the first hour pity the other 7 hours are the exact same. You want achievements hell yeah I want achievements(AC1 was the 1st game I bought for the 360) Well collect 500 of each of the 7 near identical flags and you will have achievements. Wow 7 types of flags now this is variety.

    Nah I don't think AC2 will make it into my collection

  • El-Dev #7 3 years ago

    3 times as much getting chased by people for going past them on your horse?

    Stopped playing the first one after the 4th assassination, wasn't worth any effort to do the same crap time and again.

  • alimokrane #8 3 years ago

    They are SOOOOO not going to fool me this time around with the huge production values when gameplay literally s***ed due to its repetitive mission structure. I will hold off buying this until I see a couple of reviews.

  • menage #9 3 years ago

    Problem with this is that they promised so much shit and didn't deliver with the first that I won't even go near it until I hear real user feedback instead of pro reviews.

    @El dev,

    me too.

    So much shit was just or to boring, samey or downright flawed. The horse thing indeed, aren't we allowed to run with horses in ancient Jerusalem or something WTF? No swimming?? Crap story (really, ditch that lame future shit and incredibly boring cutscenes). What was the point of flag collecting if you get fuck all in return. And i somebody says "i'll have your hand for that" one more time I'm personally cutting theirs off.

    I read the GamesTM preview and they are addressing a lot of flaws. I just hope to fucking god they also add the fun again and really get what was wrong with the first.
    Edited by 1 at 19/05/09 @ 11:49

  • Vice.Destroyer #10 3 years ago

    I enjoyed it. I'll buy it. But I won't go for the flags.

  • HolyJebus #11 3 years ago

    3 times 7 out of 10.

    21/10.

    Awesome.

  • X201 #12 3 years ago

    I started re-playing AC1 the other night.
    Enjoyed it mostly, but got extremely irritated by the assassination at level 3, when suddenly, my sword fighting skills which had beaten all comers in the build up, were rendered pathetic, with me unable to defeat the targets henchmen. I ended up legging it out of the confrontation and chasing the baddie, who was caught by vigilantes and I lept on him and did the assassination. But this rendered pointless the previous missions of collecting info about his hiding places and building layout.

    The fact that for no reason whatsoever my sword fighting skills became useless really irritated me. And a game that is about stealth left me no option but a scripted full on assault.
    Edited by 2 at 19/05/09 @ 11:52

  • kangarootoo #13 3 years ago

    That was my main gripe with AC1, that the missions nearer the end just decended into big long sword fights in the open.

    One of the missions even involved a cutscene in which I was spotted by guards and HAD to fight toe to toe. What kind of stealth assassination game makes you get spotted by guards in a f*cking cutscene?!?

  • kangarootoo #14 3 years ago

    @Mr.Me

    If you released asteroids today as it was back in my youth, it would rightly die a death. Times change, and so should games.

    Anyway, the issue isn't repetition - it is repetition of things that are boring.

  • Jimpanse #15 3 years ago

    i think, AC2 will be much better than AC1

  • sneetch #16 3 years ago

    @designerheadache
    too many cooks, by any chance?

    These aren't cooks, these are pot washers, kitchen porters etc. :)

    Looking forward to it, loved AC1, I thought it was about as repetitive as most other games really.

    I'm hoping it'll be a bit more varied in the side missions but I loved free running about the cities slaughtering any crusader who eyeballed me funny. The fighting was awesome when you got the hang of it.

  • andywilkie35 #17 3 years ago

    Fuck it, I enjoyed the first one, it was flawed but still a lot of fun. I don't give a shit about the flags. I didn't make a point of collecting them because it wasn't necessary, and certainly didn't spoil it for me.

  • ZuluHero #18 3 years ago

    @HolyJebus

    21/30 surely?

    Which is still 70% :p

  • Slipstream #19 3 years ago

    I really enjoyed the combat mechanics of Assassin's Creed, it had a very Shenmue feel to it.
    My main gripe was pretty much everyone elses though, length of the game, lack of variety in missions and landscape.

    I enjoyed the long treks from one city to another, it gave the game a sense of scale, but was not as epic as it should have been.
    If UBI are to reedeem themselves it wouldn't hurt to take some time to gather feedback and implement them, sure your developers have 'thousands' of ideas, but in the end they're not the ones who will be purchasing the game, if it's ideas you want, you will get thousands more from your consumers.

    Anyhow I hope the development works in your favour UBI, good luck, we want to see this game succeed as much as you.

  • X201 #20 3 years ago

    "Is 450 a record then, Imagine owning a sandwiche shop next to the offices - you have a Kerrygold plated butter knife."

    Couldn't resist
    Sorry

  • Domovoi #21 3 years ago

    I never got the gripes about having guys attack you when you ride past them. I always just gallopped past, and they'd chase me, but they'd never catch up.

  • dr_faulk #22 3 years ago

    ...and it's still going to be as boring as nuts.

  • X201 #23 3 years ago

    @Mr.Me
    Memory block 3. Talal in Jerusalem (This one - [link url=http ://uk.gamespot.com/features/6182618/p-9.html)
    ]http://uk .gamespot.com/features/6182618/...[/link]

    Might have been down to me forgetting some moves but I could hardly get a blow in, even after pushing two to the ground so that I only had 3 to deal with.

  • dsmx #24 3 years ago

    I hope every person on that dev team went and played hitman so they can actually get an idea how this kind of game should play.

  • jim1975 #25 3 years ago

    i must be one of the few people that liked AC. sure it had a few problems but on the whole i though it was great.

  • LHH #26 3 years ago

    Is Jade still part of the team?

  • X201 #27 3 years ago

    @jim1975
    I like it.
    I'm not saying that its a bad game. There's just a couple of things in it that irritate me.

  • X201 #28 3 years ago

    @LHH
    She's Executive Producer

  • Furfoot #29 3 years ago

    this is the first game which will make me buy 3 times as much jade.

  • Apostle #30 3 years ago

    3 times as much Jade Raymond please.

    Let the Jade hysteria re-start.

  • JensonJet #31 3 years ago

    With so many jobs lost and several studios going under in this economic climate, I wonder if this will another in future? 450 people working on a sequel to what most consider a dull game sounds like the makings of a disaster to me. You'd hope those that do buy this will have one of the longest, most complex, original, thrilling and interactive game ever created! Personally I exhausted a lifetime's worth of climbing I care for in the original Tomb Raider.

    I wonder if they've hired another pretty young woman to sell us this sequel?

  • rhubarbandcustard #32 3 years ago

    Not only 450 people being employed on this project, but as they are based in Vancouver it is 450 people being payed sky high western salaries too.

    Ubisoft Montreal to close 2010.
    Edited by 1 at 19/05/09 @ 12:55

  • BobsUncle #33 3 years ago

    @ZuluHero


    So you're saying 7/10 + 7/10 + 7/10 = 21/30?

    therefor, 1/2 + 1/2 = 2/4

    A trip to your local primary school maths lesson might be in order!

  • BobsUncle #34 3 years ago

    "sky high western salaries"

    You've obviously never worked in the games industry.

  • Optimaximal #35 3 years ago

    I also thought Assassins Creed was great - yes, it had its problems and the sci-fi element should have been revealed much earlier so we could mentally prepare ourselves for its misimplementation, but it was a much better game than, say, Far Cry 2, which was similarly hyped and much more disappointing.

  • Thunderbolt #36 3 years ago

    I dunno kind of enjoyed the first one, the diving of ledges never got old for me.

    Someone once said its almost meditative, which sounds about right.

    BTW - There will be swimming in this one.

    My only gripe is I've heard its moving out of the crusades era into another time period.

  • ZuluHero #37 3 years ago

    @bobsuncle

    geez... 2 and 1/10 then.. so whats that? 210%?

    happy now math police?

    Edited by 2 at 19/05/09 @ 13:34

  • BobsUncle #38 3 years ago

    Much better.

    Gold star for you.

  • VicViper #39 3 years ago

    I liked the first one, like the Sci fi bits too and what I assume is some alternate what if semi near future.
    Yeah lucy and desmond were not the best characters in the game but I still wanted to know what thier fate is.

    I can see myself pre-ordering and hopfully they have listened to the people who have played the first and spice up the gameplay. As someone has mention I hope the spent some time playing Hitman or better yet give me a new Hitman game I-O

  • MiniAmin #40 3 years ago

    "Assassin's Creed 2 will be released this autumn on "all current-gen platforms", which presumably means PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and probably DS."

    Finally. This madness has ended!!!

    Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii are NOT next-gen anymore.

  • ZuluHero #41 3 years ago

    @bobsuncle

    But seeing as the maximum it could get is 300% that would be 210/300?

    and that's still 70%! :)

    If you apply the same multiplier to both the numerator and denominator equally, the percentage outcome isn't going to change...

    Right?

  • lambtron #42 3 years ago

    Ubi are the new (old) EA. Who knew.

  • kangarootoo #43 3 years ago

    @Domovoi

    "I never got the gripes about having guys attack you when you ride past them. I always just gallopped past, and they'd chase me, but they'd never catch up."

    It just spoiled the illusion for me. You were supposed to be sort of in disguise, so getting chased all the time messed up the feel of things. I understand that it had little consequence in gameplay terms, but it spoiled the atmos. It was if riding a horse faster than a walking pace was considered a "suspicious activity". Taking the concept of stealth and sneaking a tad far methinks...

  • El-Dev #44 3 years ago

    3 X 7/10 = 21/30.

    FACT!

  • HolyJebus #45 3 years ago

    Oh god, what have I started with all this fraction multiplication. I specifically worded my original post in such a way that this wouldn't arise. Looks like I failed :(

  • kangarootoo #46 3 years ago

    "So you're saying 7/10 + 7/10 + 7/10 = 21/30?

    therefor, 1/2 + 1/2 = 2/4

    A trip to your local primary school maths lesson might be in order!"


    Decidedly shakey ground. The very first sentence is nonsense... and here is why

    "If you apply the same multiplier to both the numerator and denominator equally, the percentage outcome isn't going to change...

    Right?"

    Right. The only person to mention addition was HolyJebus, and I figured that was a joke.

  • penhalion #47 3 years ago

    so that's 400 too many then......

  • chicknstu #48 3 years ago

    Boasting abotu the size of the team. That's not a good thing! Smaller teams == way better.

    "THROW MORE MONKEYS AT IT!!!"

    That's the whole Barrel!

  • Dead_Man_Typing #49 3 years ago

    I very much enjoyed Assassin's Creed. It's flaws didn't bother me, neither did the repetitiveness as I finished it for the second time last night. Great game and I can't wait to see where they take the sequel.

    3 times as many people hopefully means that you've got 3 very different cities to run around in, this time.

  • gaselite #50 3 years ago

    Very much looking forward to this. Annoyingly petty bitching (far more hollow than the game itself) that you can find in here aside the foundations for a strong franchise were laid with the last game and the sci-fi present day element was a smart move in that it gives scope to visit different fascinating eras from history. I'm really excited to see what they do with this.

    Excited about the settings too. I have to say the first time I went to Venice when I was quite young I spent an awful lot of time thinking 'what a great setting for an open-ended video game this would be'.

  • kangarootoo #51 3 years ago

    "Very much looking forward to this. Annoyingly petty bitching (far more hollow than the game itself) that you can find in here aside the foundations for a strong franchise were laid with the last game and the sci-fi present day element was a smart move in that it gives scope to visit different fascinating eras from history. I'm really excited to see what they do with this. "

    Christ, could that sound any more like a marketing line from Ubi? ;)


    "Excited about the settings too. I have to say the first time I went to Venice when I was quite young I spent an awful lot of time thinking 'what a great setting for an open-ended video game this would be'."

    I'll agree on that one mind, Venice is the perfect choice (assuming they throw in a few extra really tall towers, 'cos Venice has only really got one).

  • Zomoniac #52 3 years ago

    I think the sci-fi storyline is a wrapper to distance the game from any contentious issues - ie it's not a good idea to make a game where the plot is that everything in the bible is bullshit, and you're in the holy land with a mission to kill rabbis, monks, muslims etc. Making it 'sci-fi' helps thickos understand that this is fiction.

    On the contrary, there aren't enough games that involve mass genocide of religious fuckwits.

  • Twin_snakes #53 3 years ago

    please get rid of the beggers and mentaly challenged people.

  • GamesConnoisseur #54 3 years ago

    Three times as much Jade Raymond?!! ...Oh..

  • Negotiator #55 3 years ago

    Jade Raymond who gives a shit, unless she's on her knees in front of me bobbing her head back and forth, I ain't interested.

  • Mr.Me #56 3 years ago

    Coin-Op "Ass Creed and Far Cry 2 are exactly the same games in terms of gameplay"

    Discuss

  • Spekingur #57 3 years ago

    It seems that some here are in dire need of the Whambulance.

    AC1 was awesome. AC2 will be legendary. I loved the swordfights and I had no gripe with doing similar missions "over and over again". I didn't like the flag hunting though, mostly because in my first playthrough I had randomly picked them up and was missing but a few but couldn't find them.

  • Mr.Me #58 3 years ago

    So where is AC3 going to be set? Obviiously needs to be somewhere with climbable objects. I'm hoping it stays medieval - renaissance italy is just about as much as I can take - the invention of firearms spoiled everything for me. Probably also needs to be somewhere of religious or mythic significance - for the plot. I'm guessing England - something to do with the glastonbury thorn/holy grail, and taking bets...

  • JediMasterMalik #59 3 years ago

    AC1 was an awesome engine wrapped around tedious and dull gameplay. I sincerely hope that they've really developed the gameplay design of the game to actually make it fun beyond the first few missions, and not focused so solely on the graphics. Hopefully the size of the team won' have adversely affected the game, but something tells me it will have.

  • guernican #60 3 years ago

    "So where is AC3 going to be set? Obviiously needs to be somewhere with climbable objects."

    The Birmingham NEC just after Gladiators finishes shooting for the day. Try walking unobtrusively up a travelator, Altair.

  • Burkey123 #61 3 years ago

    Absolutely loved the first one. The cities were awesome.
    Hopefully the game is a bit longer this time though.

  • BobsUncle #62 3 years ago

    I hope it's based in the future, maybe playing as a space marine of some sort. With a gruff voice.

  • BobsUncle #63 3 years ago

    They should use the engine in Splinter Cell too. Finally move that away from UE2.

  • Mr.Me #64 3 years ago

    "They should use the engine in Splinter Cell too"

    Yes, there's a neverending list of games that would benefit from a WYCSIWYCC (what you can see is what you can climb) engine. Finally walls have meaning. By the way where was the wailing wall in Jerusalem - I understand there's plenty of footholds in that...

  • bad09 #65 3 years ago

    "It seems that some here are in dire need of the Whambulance.

    AC1 was awesome. AC2 will be legendary. I loved the swordfights and I had no gripe with doing similar missions "over and over again". I didn't like the flag hunting though..."

    This! Sod you all AC is awesome (even with it's flaws and sucky flags) and 2 will be the same (hopefully minus the flaws and flags!)

  • Bravestinsane #66 3 years ago

    Sounds good to me, i really enjoyed the first one. Didn't find it repetative at all, i only ever played it a bit at a time so that did probably help a little. I thought the combat worked well wasn't repetative after you knew how to do all the combos and moves you could play around with them and i liked the animated deaths. Side missions never seemed as repetative as most people say mainly because i just saw it as another way to hack and slash. The view points i loved you could really appreciate the effort that went into the graphics in the game.

  • TASTYRYAN #67 3 years ago

    Ye that's nice but will Quantity defeat Quality ..iF you know what i mean.

    Ea has huge numbers of people working on games. And yet they produce sh it.

  • TravisTouchdown #68 3 years ago

    What did the first one sell in the end? This must have a budget in the region £30,000,000...

  • Mr.Me #69 3 years ago

    Sales over 6 million up to last year - that's a lot isn't it. (the figure is just for consoles - Apparently the PC version sold about 40,000 with over 700,000 copies identified as pirated - or something)
    Edited by 2 at 19/05/09 @ 21:17

  • ChuckNorris #70 3 years ago

    @kangaroo

    (3 x 7/10) = (7/10 + 7/10 + 7/10)

    fyi :)

    edit: added ( )
    Edited by 1 at 19/05/09 @ 21:27

  • UncleLou #71 3 years ago

    "Ass Creed and Far Cry 2 are exactly the same games in terms of gameplay, you just don't realise it."

    Yeah, agreed, although I realised pretty early. Empty, sterile worlds with daft mini-games designed around achievements. There's no other notable big developer out there with worse, less imaginative game design.

  • convercide #72 3 years ago

    So the PSP isn't current gen?

    Oh fiddlesticks.

  • Mr.Me #73 3 years ago

    "with worse, less imaginative game design"

    Bioware?

  • pokeken #74 3 years ago

    ubisoft r going down like the titanic in 2010......the chances of this bombing and making a huge dent in ubisoft's bottom line are high....did no-one bother looking at ROI on this project?

  • Spekingur #75 3 years ago

    You people should stop being so pessimistic. If it was up to you lot the Earth would probably still be flat.

  • oktava #76 3 years ago

    The hype made me buy the first one.
    Can remember the crappy minigames. And chasing a fat bloke, who could run with incredible speed, through a whole city until, surrounded by 30 guards, I "assassinated" him properly by smashing X about 300 times. Then having a 5min chat with the dying man before leaving him and his 30 patient and very polite guards for one of those curtained hiding boxes people had on their roofs back then.
    Stellar game design!

  • kangarootoo #77 3 years ago

    @ChuckNorris

    I realise that.

    My point was that "So you're saying 7/10 + 7/10 + 7/10 = 21/30?" was incorrect, as there is not what was stated by ZuluHero. It was implied by HolyJebus in his joke.

    I should have been clearer about what we being added when I said "The only person to mention addition was HolyJebus...". Point taken though.

  • BobsUncle #78 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    Hang on, just to clear this up, so you're saying that I was wrong when I posted "So you're saying 7/10 + 7/10 + 7/10 = 21/30?" ?

    But you've just admitted that

    (3 x 7/10) = (7/10 + 7/10 + 7/10)

    HolyJebus said "3 times 7/10 = 21/10" (which is what's stated above) but Zuluhero claimed that it should actually be 21/30.

    So, going by Zuluhero's logic, he was saying that "7/10 + 7/10 + 7/10 = 21/30".

    No-one actually mentioned addition at all, I mearly expanded out HolyJebus original statement of "3 times 7/10" from a multiplication into an addition, which is the fact you seem to have misunderstood.

  • Bravestinsane #79 3 years ago

    @oktava

    I "assassinated" him properly by smashing X about 300 times


    yeh you pretty much described yourself there, button mashing you even a real gamer, you were aware there are several methods of killing people, timing when you press the x button resulted in different moves... the cutscenes were good it unveiled a new piece of the plot, you know it actually had a story if you played it properly.

  • oktava #80 3 years ago

    For a majority of the assassinations I just didn't find the "proper" way. And the game was so limited, in comparison with something like Hitman, that I didn't have any motivation to search for a long time.

  • Spekingur #81 3 years ago

    So you just rushed in? I was normally able to just kill the target, run away and hide (in the crowds). Easy. If I remember correctly there were two characters you had to run after to kill. Or maybe it was just one, some archer guy that set a trap on you.
    But then again, I enjoyed killing the soldiers, counter-attacking and such.

    Maybe you were just doing it wrong.