How Assassin's Creed conquered the world

December 7th, 2012, 01:05 Posted By: wraggster

Most major games arrive in the UK with a bang: often a star-studded launch party, some form of high-profile PR stunt and a slew of midnight openings.
But while such launches are often a much more muted affair in other territories, there are some publishers trying to bring the spectacle of the West to every corner of the globe.
Ubisoft demonstrated this in October with the arrival of Assassin’s Creed III. The effort that went into the UK launchwas echoed – and even exceeded – across Europe, Africa and Asia, thanks to the publisher’s EMEA export team.
A combination of costume parties, record-breaking midnight launches and archery lessons made the game a landmark title for Ubisoft – and an interesting look at how gaming is celebrated in other countries.
“Assassin’s Creed III is a huge title for the Ubisoft Export business and it was always set to be our biggest release to date,” said Dan Gardener, marketing and PR manager for Ubisoft EMEA Export markets. “In fact, our day one shipment was a 40 per cent increase on last year’s Revelations.
“Assassin’s Creed III is our baby and we wanted to treat it well and buy it the best toys possible.”
Back in September, Ubisoft told MCV that it was spending a record £4m on marketing the newest Assassin’s Creed, and the publisher’s export team puts similar effort into promoting the game overseas.
“The marketing for this title reflected that and it’s our biggest spend for a single title within the export business to date and our partners in each territory have done an outstanding job,” said Gardener.
“We’ve been able to achieve a record number of TV campaigns in various territories along with some of the best in-store promotions, placements and pre-order initiatives and this doesn’t stop at Assassin’s Creed III.
“We have many awesome releases on the horizon that offer great scope for some more creative and qualitative campaigns.”
MAKING A KILLING AROUND THE GLOBE
India
The retail landscape in India is changing, with more and more specialists emerging from a land that previously had little dedicated support for console games.
Assassin’s Creed III marked a further change in the way titles are launched in the country: it was the first video game to prompt midnight openings from multiple games retailers.
Growing specialists such as Games The Shop, Landmark, Origin Games, Intencity and FOG all opened their doors in the middle of the night, with hundreds of Creed fans queuing to get their hands on Connor’s adventure.
The launches in Mumbai and Delhi were actually covered by local broadcaster Prime Television News Channel.
For more on the Indian games market, check out this week’s issue of MCV or head toMCVIndia.com.

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