UPDATE: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor uses Assassin's Creed assets, says ex-Ubi staffer
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor produced a new gameplay trailer today, but it hasn't gone down well with one former Assassin's Creed developer, who claims it contains evidence of assets from Ubisoft's series.
UPDATE: Eurogamer reports that Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor's developers have responded to the matter, stating simply that Assassin's Creed 2, "wasn't something we were consciously going for".
More as it comes.
ORIGINAL STORY: "Seriously, can someone tell me how Assassin's Creed 2 code and assets are in this Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor game?" Capybara Games' Charles Randall asked on Twitter.
The developer worked on Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed 2, and was involved in implementing the air assassination move introduced in the original game - so presumably knows the franchise's code and assets fairly well.
Challenged by fans and colleagues over his allegation, Randall repeated and enlarged on his assertion.
"Watch the video. That's AC2 stuff in there. Code/anim for sure," he said. "I spent two years staring at AC2. I know it when I see it."
One of Randall's questioners was Ubisoft Quebec programmer Eric Martel, who asked simply "Where did you find out about this?" and replied to Randall's comments with "wow", apparently perfectly confident in Randall's assessment.
"I know I don't have any legal rights to what I did on Assassin's Creed 2 but I sure hope I get a special thanks on that Middle Earth game," Randall commented later.
"For the record though, that Middle Earth game looks pretty damn awesome. And I love AC2 so it's kind of a double win."
We've reached out to Warner Bros. and Randall, via Capybara, for more information. Ubisoft could not offer comment.