Assassin’s Creed Streaming Dreaming: Why the Netflix Project Still Has Potential

Assassin’s Creed is coming to Netflix. Well, it’s been heading to the streaming platform since Ubisoft announced the project in 2020. However, as of Q4 2022, the series hadn’t made it onto our screens, but that doesn’t mean it’s not coming. There have been various updates and teasers since the original announcement. For example, we know Jeb Stuart was drafted in as the writer and showrunner. We also know it’s going to be a live-action offering, but we don’t know much more.

The Dream is Still Alive

An update in February 2022 revealed that Netflix wasn’t casting for the series. The positive though is that Stuart did tell The Playlist that the project is “moving along” and the team at Ubisoft are “terrific.” For fans of Assassin’s Creed, the morsels of information we’ve been drip-fed probably won’t satisfy the hunger pangs, but they have kept the dream alive.

A lot of streaming projects fall by the wayside once executives, producers, lawyers, and anyone else with a stake in the venture start butting heads. We do know, however, that an Assassin’s Creed series has been talked about since 2016. That date won’t come as a shock to fans of the franchise because 2016 is when the Assassin’s Creed movie starring Michael Fassbender was released.

Worldwide box office receipts totaling $240 million suggest the movie was a success, which no doubt inspired Ubisoft to pursue another crossover project. Given that the Assassin’s Creed gaming franchise has been delighting players since 2007, it’s hardly surprising that a Netflix series has potential. However, for something to breakthrough into today’s saturated streaming market, it needs more than gaming fanboys and fangirls propping it up.

The Assassin’s Creed Series Will Be an Adventure

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The good news is that adventure games typically cross over better than most genres. We only have to look at the ill-fated Super Mario Bros movie to see that’s the case. Despite being among the biggest-selling games in history with 58 million copies shipped since 1985, Super Mario Bros flopped as a movie. Why? Because the storyline was minimal at best. In contrast, online adventure games, where players have to fight their way back from vast wastelands to get vengeance, already have a strong narrative.

Writers, directors, and producers can work with action-adventure narratives to create something worth watching. This is certainly true when it comes to Assassin’s Creed. The game has remained popular for so long because the developers haven’t been afraid to evolve and innovate. The original game was set in Persia. Since then, players have been completing missions in Renaissance Europe, on the sea, and, when Assassin’s Creed Mirage comes out in 2023, in 9th century Baghdad.

The point here is that Assassin’s Creed has already told dozens of stories as a gaming franchise. That means the team Netflix has plenty to work with. What’s more, a precedent for change has already been set. The producers et al aren’t confined to a single setting or set of ideas. The developers responsible for Assassin’s Creed games have had free rein to indulge their creative tendencies which means the streaming team can as well. So, while we may have to hold our breath a little while longer for an Assassin’s Creed Netflix series, it should certainly be worth the wait.