14 DAY TRIAL // Video game publisher Ubisoft is announcing that it is planning to launch a virtual reality experience before the end of the year, which is based on the coming movie version of the major Assassin's Creed franchise.
The product is created in partnership with Fox and with special effects teams at Practical Magic VR and will not apparently be a full game, which probably means that gamers will be able to watch action unfolding in their VR devices rather than influence it.
Ubisoft is also tight-lipped about the details of the Assassin's Creed virtual reality experience, and filming apparently took place in the United Kingdom, Spain and Malta.
The movie based on the video game franchise will be launched on December 21 of this year and stars Michael Fassbender in the leading role, with the narrative apparently designed to explore themes that Ubisoft has also touched on while offering an entirely new core story.
Star Wars is also bringing an experience to virtual reality, named Trials of Tatooine, designed to work only on the Vive created by Valve and HTC, apparently with no link to the recent The Force Unleashed movie.
The video is low on details, but it seems that this is another experiment that was jointly created by LucasArts and Industrial Light and Magic Lab and currently does not have an official launch date.
Both universes will deliver more video games in the near future
Ubisoft has announced that Assassin's Creed is taking a break this year, with no major release planned as the company evaluates the core elements of the franchise and decides on the best way to impress fans in 2017.
It will be interesting to see whether a movie and a virtual reality experience are enough to keep gamers interested in the series until the publisher reveals a new video game.
Star Wars Battlefront, created by DICE and Electronic Arts, is preparing for four downloadable content pack releases this year, which include trips to both Cloud City and the Death Star.
The publisher also has two other big titles based on the movie universe in development, with BioWare in charge of one of them and the other created by a team led by Amy Hennig, which now includes a former developer of Halo 5: Guardians.
There are also plans to create more Battlefront experiences that will explore the events of The Force Unleashed at some point in the future.
Just announced: Assassin's Creed VR experience - based on the film - is coming this year from FOX & Practical Magic. pic.twitter.com/YZUCJwfPY3 — Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) March 15, 2016