Assassin’s Creed: Unity Director Clarifies Lack of Female Assassins Comment

Just a short time after Assassin’s Creed: Unity Game Director Alex Amancio revealed that a lack of female assassins in the game was due to the “reality of production” – a statement which caused backlash and the forming of a petition – he caught up with Eurogamer to explain how this isn’t an issue for Unity:

I understand the issue, I understand the cause, and it is a noble one, but I don’t think it’s relevant in the case of Unity. In Unity you play this character called Arno, and when you’re playing co-op you’re also playing Arno – everybody is. It’s like Aiden Pierce in Watch Dogs.

Amancio further clarified this by saying, “I think this started from confusion in relation to the co-op, where they thought it was an avatar which it isn’t. Arno has different skills – you select skill points in the game, there are gear elements that have an impact and all these weapons that make the character you make your own. But you’re always playing Arno.”

With everything that’s happened in the past couple of days, Amancio was asked if there was any thought put into changing Assassin’s Creed: Unity:

There was this thing that started with animations – but they have nothing to do with it.

They’re one drop in the ocean, they’re one part of it. If we’re creating all these different suits that can interchange, that’s a lot. It’s not only that, but it’s nothing to do with production. Again, we’re telling the story of Arno – it’s that character’s story. The reason we’re just changing the face and keeping the bodies is we want people to show off the gear that they pick up in the game through exploration. That’s why we kept that.

As well, Amancio mentioned how the wording of his original comment was a “slip up,” and the Assassin’s Creed franchise has featured many diverse characters. “Altair is Arabic, Connor is Native, we’ve had a female lead. This game is set in the French Revolution, so you’re playing a Frenchman,” he said.

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