Netflix developing ASSASSIN'S CREED TV series

Netflix has teamed with Ubisoft to develop a live-action TV series based on the Assassin's Creed video game series. This will not be connected to the 2016 film based on the games, starring Michael Fassbender.

The Assassin's Creed series began in 2007 with the release of eponymous first game in the series. The twelfth main game in the series, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, is released next month.

The premise of the series is that humanity is actually a genetically-engineered creation of an ancient, superior race that used to exist on Earth but was wiped out by a solar flare tens of thousands of years ago, leaving no trace of their existence. This superior race left behind technology, known as the Pieces of Eden, to help preserve Earth through future apocalyptic events, with various factions throughout time trying to gain control of this technology for purposes selfish and selfless. The two main factions are the Assassins, who represent freedom, and the Knights Templar, who represent order; the two factions have both precursor and successor organisations existing at different points in time. In the present day, the Templar-descended mega-corporation Abstergo Industries has created a device, the Animus, that allows the wearer to experience the memories of their ancestors from different points in time and garner clues to the current whereabouts of the Pieces of Eden. This forms a framing device, with each game having its own, mostly self-contained storyline and characters, but the metastory of the modern-day Templar/Assassins battle continues to unfold in the background.

The Assassin's Creed series is one of gaming's most commercially successful franchises, having sold over 155 million copies in total.

The premise of the TV series is unclear. However, the video game setting would allow them to make an effective anthology series, with each season set in a new time and location with framing elements linking them together. This would give the creative team a formidable amount of creative freedom to develop the project.

Netflix are also working on a live-action TV show based on the Resident Evil franchise.

Chris Wooding confirmed to be a writer on ASSASSIN'S CREED: VALHALLA

British science fiction and fantasy author Chris Wooding today confirmed that he's been working on the latest Assassin's Creed video game, Valhalla, as a writer.

Ubisoft lifted the veil on the game, the 23rd in the series, today with a cinematic trailer. The game is set in both Norway and England and sees you playing a Viking raider who settles down to colonise the new land. The game features settlement-building mechanics as well as the familiar combat and stealth gameplay from previous titles in the series.

Chris Wooding is the author of numerous acclaimed works, including The Fade, The Braided Path trilogy, the four-volume Tales of the Ketty Jay diseselpunk series and his latest novel, The Ember Blade. Wooding is also working on a sequel to The Ember Blade, expected for publication in late 2021.

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla will be released in late 2020 on PlayStation 4, X-Box, Stadia and PC.

Get some free games! For free!

Two of the online video game stores are giving away free games this week to entice people to look at their December sales.

Ubiplay has put up Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag for free for this week. This nautical take on the Assassin's Creed franchise is often cited as the best game in the series and an easy one to start off with.

GoG also has Grim Fandango Remastered up for free for this week. Originally released in 1998 by LucasArts, Grim Fandango is comfortably one of the best video games and certainly one of the best adventure games of all time. The remastered edition adds a revamped and much-improved mouse control system and enhanced graphics.

Mass Effect 4 - Knights of the Old Republic 3

Following up their comments a few weeks ago, Obsidian have confirmed that they have pitched a new Star Wars roleplaying game to LucasArts. The new game won't actually be Knights of the Old Republic III, as it will be set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Obsidian's top writer, Chris Avellone, has developed and written the story. Obsidian are waiting to hear back from LucasArts and their new owner, Disney (who have made discouraging noises about not wanting to focus on big gaming projects any more) about their pitch.

Don't expect to be seeing many - or any - of these guys in the new Mass Effect.

Meanwhile, BioWare have made a lot of confusing comments about Mass Effect 4. The only thing they have seemingly confirmed is that it will not be called Mass Effect 4. In a bizarre twist one of the developers has said that "the game does not have to come after. Or before. Or off to the side. Or with characters you know." Actually, logically it kind of does, unless it's set in a completely different universe (and hence wouldn't be a Mass Effect title). Good to see that BioWare still can't make a single announcement about the Mass Effect franchise without turning into a confusing mess. However, it does confirm that Mass Effect 4: Whatever is now in active development.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft have confirmed that Far Cry 3 has sold 4 million copies since its release, far outstripping their projections. As a result, they have confirmed that a Far Cry 4 will be released within the next three to four years. Surprising no-one, they have also confirmed that a new Assassin's Creed game is in the offering for 2014. Assassin's Creed III has sold a staggering 12 million copies since its release just three months ago.