As fans await Thursday's release of the latest edition, "Assassin's Creed Shadows", AFP takes stock of the game's unique journey.

- History of violence -

From the bazaars of the Holy Land in the era of the Crusades to the snowy Nordic coasts of the Viking period, the "Assassin's Creed" series has served up a wild ride through time and space.

The first game, set during the Crusades, was inspired by Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol's 1938 novel "Alamut".

For the latest edition from its publisher Ubisoft, the 14th instalment visits a period fans have long requested: 16th-century feudal Japan.

As always in the series, players are encouraged to sneak their way through heavily guarded strongholds to take down high-profile enemies from the shadows, with tools like grappling hooks, smoke bombs and a wrist-mounted dagger.

But open conflict can also be a viable option, with swords, bows, martial arts moves and firearms on offer.

A frame story common to each game places the player in the shoes of a near-future character unlocking the DNA-encoded memories of their ancestors via a powerful machine, meaning the possibilities for mayhem span the centuries.

- Immediate jackpot -

The series was a hit from the start, with the first game selling more than eight million copies worldwide between its 2007 release and 2009, when the second episode was launched.

And the longer it has gone on, the more popular it has become.

France-based Ubisoft said the 2020 release "Valhalla" was the most successful so far in the series, generating revenue of more than one billion euros ($1.1 billion at today's rates) in a first for the publisher.

"Valhalla" broke new ground in other ways too.

In February 2023, composer Stephanie Economou brought home the series' first Grammy music industry award for video game scores for "Dawn of Ragnarok", an extension to "Valhalla".

- Fast and loose? -

The games' sometimes free-wheeling takes on history have rarely been universally welcomed.

"Shadows" has stoked controversy with playable character Yasuke, a burly black samurai in the service of warlord Oda Nobunaga.

Historians agree that a real black man of that name lived in Japan during the period, but his samurai status is hotly contested including on social media.

The game's developers have defended their "creative freedom" to imagine the character.

In 2014, French leftist firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon accused the makers of "Assassin's Creed Unity" of "propaganda against the people" in the episode set during the French Revolution.

Ubisoft says it employs "dozens of historians, sociologists and other social science researchers" to keep its history true to life.

- Starry cast, one-star reviews -

The "Assassin's Creed" saga followed the familiar path of successful video games into the cinema in 2016 with the release of a movie of the same name.

While the cast was stellar -- with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard leading the line-up -- the reviews were less so, and rumours of a big-screen sequel have remained just that.

Ubisoft was undaunted though, and closed a deal with Netflix in 2021 to develop several series based on the franchise.

The saga also has spin-off comics and podcasts.

Ubisoft last month promised new content in the "Assassin's Creed" universe every year, but without specifying whether that would be games or other forms.

- Olympic spotlight -

A masked hero figure somersaulting across the rooftops of the French capital bearing the Olympic torch was a common thread linking together vignettes in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony in summer 2024.

The ceremonies' artistic director Thomas Jolly said this month that the character was directly inspired by "Unity".

"I love video games and I love Assassin's Creed," he said during a podcast recorded at Ubisoft's headquarters.

Jolly said Arno, the protagonist of "Unity", could stand alongside historical French pop culture favourites like "gentleman thief" Arsene Lupin.

Following the devastating 2019 fire at Paris's Notre Dame cathedral, Ubisoft made "Unity" free for a week on PC to allow players to explore the incredibly detailed recreation of the building within the game.

Several million took them up on the offer.

kf-yk-jxb-tgb/rl

UBISOFT ENTERTAINMENT

NETFLIX

Lupin Limited