Assassin's Creed 4 dev: pirates no longer 'for kids'

You and I know pirates to be cheery drunkards, perhaps made of plasticine, who plunder cursed booty and battle sea monsters. Yet, Ubisoft Montreal claims, this is all fiction. The developer has said it is "giving pirates the HBO, reality treatment" in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, suggesting that perhaps piracy wasn't all hook hands and perching parrots.

These aren't your grandfather's pirates, oh no. They won't sing duets with Peter Pan or whatever Ubisoft imagines we imagine, no. They're gritty. They're visceral. They'll blow you away.

"We're staying away from cliches. Things like walking the plank, parrots on the shoulder and hooks for hands," lead content manager Carsten Myhill told CVG. "We are giving pirates the HBO, reality treatment. And that allows us to redefine piracy in entertainment. No longer is it for kids."

Myhill added that Ubi has "a fantastic opportunity for pirates in video games." While Assassin's Creed 3 introduced naval sections, its transitions between land, sea, and deck combat were scripted. Black Flag supposedly will let you jump between them as you please, for the full pirate experience.

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U in October of this year. Editions for PC, PlayStation 4, and doubtless Microsoft's new console too will follow. Ubisoft Montreal is the lead developer but another seven Ubi studios are chipping in.