Assassin's Creed Mega Bloks deal to expand brand's audience to kids

Assassin's Creed is a mature-rated franchise, because it's about killing people, but Ubisoft is hoping to bring younger fans into the fold.

The Assassin's Creed Mega Bloks set announced earlier this year is an example of how Ubisoft is trying to get kids interested in the brand, according to Ubisoft international brand manager Yannick Spagna.

Speaking on a panel at the GameOn Finance conference in Toronto last week, as reported by GamesIndustry, Spagna said Assassin's Creed isn't in need of the extra revenue licensing deals brings in.

"On a big IP, like Assassin's Creed or that type of game, I think now the idea is to reach a maximum of people, so it's not about needing advertisement to get additional revenue," he said.

"For big IPs, smart brands are the best partners. They do a line with Mega Bloks together. On their side, it's nice because toys are looking for the hype around video games. And we are looking for a new audience: kids, children, it's more like that."

Speaking to GI later, Spagna emphasised that Assassin's Creed the game is not suitable for kids, but the brand is, in the same way that kids too young for The Lord of the Rings films and books can still enjoy the merchandise.

"If you think about it, we could even do an Assassin's Creed game tailored for kids. Imagine a Lego game," he mused.

"It would mean changing a lot of things. I played hours and hours of Lego Lord of the Rings, and you kill people but not kill people, because they're Lego characters."

I feel Ubisoft may have something of a hard sell ahead of it with parents of young kids. After all, The Lords of the Rings does not have a word directly related to murder in its title.