Contagious Insight /
Tour de force / As Ubisoft explains in its case study video, video game bloggers have been reporting a disconnect between the slick adverts for games and the often-unsatisfactory reality of playing them. Assassin’s Creed Discovery Mode, which lets users experience the ancient world of Assassin’s Creed before purchase via a microsite, allays such concerns. It’s an opportunity to sample the game and show off one of its key attributes: the splendour of the gaming environment and the painstaking recreation of Ancient Egypt. Meanwhile, embedding Instagram Story-like posts into the microsite is also a useful means of enabling user-generated content, with each fan-posted image or video functioning as a mini-trailer to spread the word beyond just those who tried out the tours.
The game is up / The Assassin’s Creed Origins Discovery Tour also demonstrates that the series can also be elevated beyond entertainment. Through the creation of an educational tool, Ubisoft is able to broaden the appeal of the Assassin’s Creed franchise among a new audience of educators who value being able to teach a subject with the aid of immersive video games. Reading about the ancient Library of Alexandria is one thing, having the opportunity to wander through Ubisoft’s recreation of it is something else entirely. According to some preliminary research into its educational potential, the discovery tour mode was nearly as effective at educating grade and high school students about Ancient Egypt as a teacher over a short lesson. Those instructed by the game saw a 44% improvement of their knowledge while those just lectured by a teacher saw a 51% improvement, according to the study involving 300 students, aged 12 to 17, from nine different schools. The game has achieved this new reputation as a learning tool without compromising its play-ability or interactivity, which could have threatened to alienate its hardcore fans.
