Late Monday, April 15, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was engulfed in flames. This fire required nearly 400 firefighters to combat and lasted for roughly 5 hours, with the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron stating that the worst had been avoided around 11 PM. Macron has also since promised to rebuild the cathedral, and intends to launch a fundraising campaign. Though nothing has been decided yet, it seems as ifAssassin’s Creed Unitycould actually help in the process of rebuilding the Notre Dame cathedral.
For those who have long since moved on from the title,Assassin’s Creed Unityis set in Paris during the French Revolution. Its release did little to make any real splash, as franchise fatigue had set in for many by this point, but the artistic approach taken in the game, particularly for the Notre Dame cathedral, was so thorough that it could almost help place every brick back where it was.
Speaking toThe Vergein 2014, most of senior level designer Caroline Miousse’s time was spent on the cathedral: “I made some other stuff in the game, but 80 percent of my time was spent on the Notre Dame.” This time totals nearly two years bringing the iconic cathedral toAssassin’s Creed Unity, with Miousse working with texture artists to capture it for posterity and with historians.
Ultimately, the version ofNotre Dame inAssassin’s Creed Unitywas not historically accurate, but notes of the changes and designs are almost still certainly held by Ubisoft. Combine with what we know about the Notre Dame today, and it seems as if the team is a unique position to lend a helping hand.
At the time of this writing, though, there has been no official word from theAssassin’s Creeddeveloper Ubisoftas to whether the company would officially release anything to help, but if requested, it seems like a no-brainer. This would be one benefit to come from the developer and publisher’s historically rich franchise, even fromAssassin’s Creed Unity,which is often overlooked.
An investigation is currently underway to determine what stated the fire at Notre Dame, but it seems as if it were accidental. Though France now mourns for its iconic cathedral, hopefully the rebuilding process will go smoothly, with or without help (for one reason or another) fromUbisoft andAC Unity.
Assassin’s Creed Unityis available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
