At the Eurogamer Expo today Alex Hutchinson and Jonathan Cooper from Ubisoft Montreal answered the question on the lips of every fan of Russia or Japan: ‘why America?’
”In looking for a suitable setting for AC we look for times that have been a turning point in history, and a time and place most gamers haven’t been,” explained Alex. ”Many gamers have been to America, but not in the 18th century.”
The pair talked about the themes of the American Revolution and how they synced perfectly with those of the Assassin/Templar feud - liberty or death, power vs slavery, control vs freedom. They had also noted that players liked interacting with Leonardo da Vinci in previous games because he was a known name, and the revolution offered plenty of those.
It was also important, as they explained, to make Connor be stuck in the middle - not king & country, not Mel Gibson from The Patriot. So a Native American was chosen. (they also noted how difficult it was to find a Native American actor who hadn’t been in Twilight) They finally noted to the very British audience that AC3 was not about the Revolution, it was merely as a backdrop to their own story, and that everyone is actually British in the game ”until the end” - perhaps hinting the game will finish on July 4th perhaps?