Social Listening - Drew Bedrin

What are People Saying About Assassins Creed: Mirage

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Drew Bedrin

10/13/23

The Assassins Creed franchise includes many games, most of which are considered to be fan favorites and so called unique among their competitors. I personally am a fan of the franchise having played the games since I was twelve; but recently they have been receiving quite a lot of backlash. 

The appeal of Assassins Creed is its quick paced parkour and stealth based traversal. Taking over castles in the dead of the night and usurping empires as a one man army. The now sixteen year old franchise has thus created a formula, why change what people like right? However, consumers have become increasingly more irritated with the games lack of innovation and seemingly downgraded algorithm.

With their newest title, Assassins Creed Mirage having just released, The franchise has received quite a lot of feedback from all sides. A notable review being from TikTok user @jacobm.stevens comparing Assassins Creed Mirage to its nine year old predecessor, Assassins Creed Unity. Stevens opens with a prompt asking "why assassins creed unity better in every way" leading into many examples as to why. His main points lay in the games core parkour system, stating that Mirage's feels stale and unsatisfying while Unity's is fluid and enjoyable. However, it's not just this one user who has this opinion. User @calebbanks06 commented under this same post "Crazy they never expanded on unity's parkour in 9 years image what we could've had now."

While I am a fan of this franchise, I can't help but agree with this users criticism. The mobility and parkour looks janky and un-fun. Truly surprising as it somehow looks "unpolished" compared to its nine year old counterpart.

An article titled "Assassins Creed Mirage Review" published by pc gamer however, has a much lighter take on the franchises most recent release. The author goes on to state "It's not often that a big-budget video game feels like it was made according to my exact wishes, and yet Assassin's Creed Mirage exists" (Paragraph 1, page 1). Explaining how AC Mirage was made to his satisfaction, and the franchise's step towards a more fluid experience.   

As far as I've seen on Ubisofts (the publisher of AC: Mirage) social media accounts I have seen zero response to negative criticism. Both Instagram and TikTok have large and commonly commented on posts yet I see zero acknowledgment from Ubisoft. If the publisher is in service of the fans, I believe that responding to criticism is necessary even if it means you have to say you're wrong. Though, despite Ubisofts lack of response, their posts do have some interesting details. A particular post goes over the logo, explaining the "hidden meaning" of it. Little tid bits of interesting facts and lore seem to be all over their social media accounts; which is clever in that it may lead a consumer to seek them out in order to gain information. This being said, if I were the brand manager I'd certainly find a way to effectively communicate with my franchises community. 

Blog: 

https://www.pcgamer.com/assassins-creed-mirage-review/