Assassin's Creed: Utopia will have no links to ACIII

Playing upcoming smartphone game, Assassin's Creed: Utopia will have no bearing on, or contribute extra content to, your Assassin's Creed III game, Ubisoft has confirmed. Those that abhor trans-device gaming tie-ins will be pleased, but the move seems to contradict Ubisoft's "companion gaming" strategy.

Assassin's Creed producer Andreane Meunier has told EG that when it comes to Ubisoft's big hitter, Assassin's Creed III and smartphone title Assassin's Creed: Utopia, "There are no links between the games."

"But the narrative will lead into the AC3 narrative, since it's a kind of pre-era to the Assassin's Creed 3 era."

Details on the game play of Utopia are scarce, but it is believed to involve building a colonial city - presumably a utopian one.

Those with a distaste for platform-spanning tie-ins - where what is typically a smartphone or browser-based game unlocks added extras in a full-retail release - will likely be relieved to hear this. Curiously, it does seem to fly in the face of what Ubisoft vp of digital publishing told VG247 earlier this year, when he outlined the concept of companion gaming:

“Our companion gaming strategy is focused on allowing players to play games based on the same IP universe across a number of different platforms and devices and to have those games provide some residual value or inter-related benefits,” Early said at the time.

He went on to sum-up the company's intention with companion gaming, “What we’re really looking to give fans of a brand is the ability to spend as much time as they like with it across different platforms that all provide a centralised benefits.”

Evidently that's not happening in the case of Assassin's Creed: Utopia and Assassin's Creed III, although it's possible that the latter will be subject to some other companion gaming initiative closer to its October launch.

A tentative date of December for Assassin's Creed: Utopia, though this is unconfirmed at this stage.