Assassin's Creed Creator Resurrects Lost Fantasy Epic 1666: Amsterdam Over a Decade Later
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Original Assassin's Creed creative director Patrice Desilets is finally releasing his supernatural fantasy game 1666: Amsterdam in early access this year, with a playable prologue available now on Steam and the Epic Games Store following a turbulent decade of corporate battles.
Gaming history is full of projects lost to corporate bankruptcies and publisher buyouts, but one of the industry's most famous ghost stories is finally coming back to life. Patrice Desilets, the original creative director behind Assassin's Creed, has announced that his supernatural historical action game, 1666: Amsterdam, is finally releasing this year via early access. For anyone following the industry for the last decade, this is a major moment. The project originally began at THQ Montreal back in 2011, only to be shelved when Ubisoft acquired the studio during THQ's bankruptcy proceedings in 2013 and parted ways with Desilets. After years of legal battles, Desilets regained the rights in 2016 and quietly went to work with his independent studio, Panache Digital Games.
Players do not have to wait until the early access launch to get a taste of the action, because a thirty minute prologue is available right now on Steam and the Epic Games Store. According to details shared during Summer Game Fest, the dark third person adventure casts players as Noa Brooklyn, a Collector operating in a world shaped by ancient entities known as Originals and shadowy factions like the Zaindaris. It is a wildly ambitious premise that spans historical Amsterdam and bizarre modern day elements. Desilets noted that his team of nearly seventy developers spent the last six years focusing strictly on building a playable experience rather than relying on vertical slices and cinematic fluff.
This release represents a fascinating test for an indie team stepping back into AAA territory after developing the ambitious survival simulator Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey. For a generation of players who appreciate seeing creative visions survive corporate turbulence, the arrival of 1666: Amsterdam is a massive win. You can check out the prologue on PC right now, with the full early access rollout planned for later this year. For more details on the announcement, check out the original coverage on Rock Paper Shotgun.
Tags: Gaming News, PC Gaming, Indie Games, Summer Game Fest, Panache Digital Games
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun