It’s been known for some time that Immortals Fenyx Rising (or Gods and Monsters, as it was initially known) started development as an Assassin’s Creed Odyssey offshoot, when the latter’s development team began working on this new project inspired by their latest project’s mechanics and Greek mythological setting. However, the exact circumstances that led to the birth of this new IP are actually quite interesting- in that the developers first got an idea for the game thanks to a bug they were faced with during Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s development.
During an interview with Game Informer, game director Scott Phillips revealed that the dev team encountered a bug that would see players getting aboard their ship in Odyssey and being met with their crew- which was populated not by humans, but by cyclopes. Though obviously not the right fit for Assassin’s Creed, that bug inspired the idea to make a game where something like that could work.
“There was a bug at the time where you’d be sailing on your trireme and instead of having a normal human crew, you’d have a crew of cyclopes,” Phillips said. “We knew that was wrong for Odyssey, but it also sparked this idea of, ‘Actually it would be quite cool if we can break those historical bonds and just go full force into mythology.'”
Assassin’s Creed does use mythological elements quite frequently, especially in frequent years, such as in Odyssey’s Fate of Atlantis DLC- but the developers always have to show some restraint. With Immortals, they were able to embrace that side of their game’s setting.
“We were using the Greek mythology, but within the limit of the brand and the mythology of the brand more than the Greek mythology,” said Phillips. “For Immortals Fenyx Rising, it was the other way around: We wanted to embrace the Greek mythology.”
Immortals Fenyx Rising is due out on the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Stadia on December 3. Ubisoft recently detailed its post-launch plans, which will entail three expansions- get more details through here.