Assassin's Creed books canned
Real life descendants stamp feet.
Intervention from descendants of real-life assassins - the Ismaili Nizaris - has lead to work on the Assassin's Creed books being indefinitely halted.
Author Steven Barnes who also likes yoga aired the news on his blog, where he said the Ubisoft-sanctioned tampering had made he and his publisher so "unenchanted" that they decided to call it all off.
"They... suggested that Ubisoft, the game company, show more respect for their ancestors, and Ubisoft went all pitter-patter," fumed Barnes, a martial arts devotee, on his blog. "Next thing we knew, they wanted to remove all religious references from the book."
"The book was turning into puree of bat s***, and I was no longer amused. The whole three-book project died. "
The books were part of a new marketing strategy by Ubisoft to offer auxiliary entertainment experiences to compliment its big new games, as Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond told us earlier this year.
Assassin's Creed is set in ancient Jerusalem amid the Third Crusade, where you play as killer Altair, who leaps across rooftops as he dispatches his prey.
Assassin's Creed is due out for 360 and PS3 on 16th November, followed by a PC version early next year.