{"id":1791953,"date":"2026-02-25T12:19:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1791953"},"modified":"2026-02-25T12:19:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:19:55","slug":"ideas-have-a-window-they-age-out-and-become-stale-assassins-creed-3-director-alex-hutchinson-outlines-what-went-wrong-with-skull-and-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1791953","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Ideas have a window, they age out and become stale&#8221; &#8211; Assassin&#8217;s Creed 3 director Alex Hutchinson outlines what went wrong with Skull and Bones"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/skull-and-bones\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Skull and Bones<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">&#8220;Ideas have a window, they age out and become stale&#8221; &#8211; Assassin&#8217;s Creed 3 director Alex Hutchinson outlines what went wrong with Skull and Bones<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Cursed ship.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Skull-and-Bones_ships.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Skull and Bones - ship combat\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Skull-and-Bones_ships.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Ubisoft<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/fran-j-ruiz-author.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"fran-j-ruiz-author.png\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/fran-ruiz\">Fran Ruiz<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-02-25T12:19:55+00:00\">Feb. 25, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"6ceda741-b8e7-4b0e-9931-35d82eebd651\" data-name=\"Skull and Bones\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Skull and Bones\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Skull and Bones\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Skull and Bones\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Skull and Bones\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Skull and Bones\" title=\"Follow Skull and Bones\"><br \/>\n  Follow Skull and Bones<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Ubisoft is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ubisoft-confirms-a-lot-of-new-far-cry-and-assassins-creed-games-are-in-development\">all in on Assassin&#8217;s Creed and Far Cry<\/a> (among other lucky IPs) following all the recent layoffs, studio closures, and project cancellations, yet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/action\/with-ubisofts-dire-finances-widespread-cancellations-and-a-disastrous-launch-working-against-it-famously-aaaa-game-skull-and-bones-celebrates-year-2-with-a-big-ol-kraken\/\">Skull and Bones somehow continues to sail onward<\/a> against all odds. Its launch was a bit disastrous though, and one key creative behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/assassins-creed-iii\">Assassin&#8217;s Creed 3<\/a> had something to say about that project and why it struggled so much.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/assassins-creed\/the-director-of-the-first-assassins-creed-with-naval-battles-found-it-bizarre-to-watch-skull-and-bones-agonisingly-long-development-because-it-was-essentially-the-same-stuff-re-shipping-14-years-after-we-made-it\/\">PC Gamer had a chance to talk to AC3 and Far Cry 4 creative director Alex Hutchinson<\/a>, who&#8217;s worked on the two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/revenge-of-the-savage-planet-review\">Savage Planet<\/a> games since leaving Ubisoft. From the get-go, Hutchinson commented it was &#8220;bizarre&#8221; to see &#8220;essentially the same stuff re-shipping 14 years&#8221; after he and his team cracked the systems for the third Assassin&#8217;s Creed. The full pirate experience wouldn&#8217;t become a thing until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/assassins-creed-4-black-flag-review\">Black Flag<\/a>, as Ubisoft <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/assassins-creed\/assassins-creed-3s-greatest-feature-was-pushed-to-the-side-until-black-flag-because-ubisoft-was-worried-that-the-tech-wouldnt-work\/\">reportedly wasn&#8217;t confident in the feature&#8217;s chances<\/a> during AC3&#8217;s development.<\/p>\n<p>The rest is history, but even as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/skull-and-bones\">Skull and Bones<\/a> enters another year of post-launch support, many are still wondering how and why the base game&#8217;s development was so difficult. In the director&#8217;s mind, it was a mix of its core ideas feeling &#8220;stale&#8221; and the main development team not having the necessary experience to finish such a daunting project without major hiccups.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ideas have a window&#8230; They age out and become stale,&#8221; he explained before adding a &#8220;junior&#8221; team trying to &#8220;make Black Flag crossed with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/world-of-tanks\">World of Tanks<\/a> or World of Warships&#8221; was a recipe for disaster. &#8220;And then they didn&#8217;t really have experience in making even an Assassin&#8217;s Creed game down there, because they really did co-development. And then I think it just got away from them,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As pointed out in the original piece by PC Gamer&#8217;s Fraser Brown and Jeremy Peel, Ubisoft Singapore was founded in 2008 and mostly acted as a support studio before its headcount &#8220;ballooned to more than 300 employees.&#8221; Even Hutchinson admitted many Ubisoft devs just moved to Singapore for the fun vibes: &#8220;For a lot of the French or Canadian developers, they would go down to Singapore for a year&#8217;s holiday&#8230; I don&#8217;t think they were serious.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Ubisoft is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ubisoft-confirms-a-lot-of-new-far-cry-and-assassins-creed-games-are-in-development\">all in on Assassin&#8217;s Creed and Far Cry<\/a> (among other lucky IPs) following all the recent layoffs, studio closures, and project cancellations, yet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/action\/with-ubisofts-dire-finances-widespread-cancellations-and-a-disastrous-launch-working-against-it-famously-aaaa-game-skull-and-bones-celebrates-year-2-with-a-big-ol-kraken\/\">Skull and Bones somehow continues to sail onward<\/a> against all odds. Its launch was a bit disastrous though, and one key creative behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/assassins-creed-iii\">Assassin&#8217;s Creed 3<\/a> had something to say about that project and why it struggled so much.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/assassins-creed\/the-director-of-the-first-assassins-creed-with-naval-battles-found-it-bizarre-to-watch-skull-and-bones-agonisingly-long-development-because-it-was-essentially-the-same-stuff-re-shipping-14-years-after-we-made-it\/\">PC Gamer had a chance to talk to AC3 and Far Cry 4 creative director Alex Hutchinson<\/a>, who&#8217;s worked on the two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/revenge-of-the-savage-planet-review\">Savage Planet<\/a> games since leaving Ubisoft. From the get-go, Hutchinson commented it was &#8220;bizarre&#8221; to see &#8220;essentially the same stuff re-shipping 14 years&#8221; after he and his team cracked the systems for the third Assassin&#8217;s Creed. The full pirate experience wouldn&#8217;t become a thing until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/assassins-creed-4-black-flag-review\">Black Flag<\/a>, as Ubisoft <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/assassins-creed\/assassins-creed-3s-greatest-feature-was-pushed-to-the-side-until-black-flag-because-ubisoft-was-worried-that-the-tech-wouldnt-work\/\">reportedly wasn&#8217;t confident in the feature&#8217;s chances<\/a> during AC3&#8217;s development.<\/p>\n<p>The rest is history, but even as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/skull-and-bones\">Skull and Bones<\/a> enters another year of post-launch support, many are still wondering how and why the base game&#8217;s development was so difficult. In the director&#8217;s mind, it was a mix of its core ideas feeling &#8220;stale&#8221; and the main development team not having the necessary experience to finish such a daunting project without major hiccups.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ideas have a window&#8230; They age out and become stale,&#8221; he explained before adding a &#8220;junior&#8221; team trying to &#8220;make Black Flag crossed with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/world-of-tanks\">World of Tanks<\/a> or World of Warships&#8221; was a recipe for disaster. &#8220;And then they didn&#8217;t really have experience in making even an Assassin&#8217;s Creed game down there, because they really did co-development. And then I think it just got away from them,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As pointed out in the original piece by PC Gamer&#8217;s Fraser Brown and Jeremy Peel, Ubisoft Singapore was founded in 2008 and mostly acted as a support studio before its headcount &#8220;ballooned to more than 300 employees.&#8221; Even Hutchinson admitted many Ubisoft devs just moved to Singapore for the fun vibes: &#8220;For a lot of the French or Canadian developers, they would go down to Singapore for a year&#8217;s holiday&#8230; I don&#8217;t think they were serious.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Skull and Bones &#8220;Ideas have a window, they age out and become stale&#8221; &#8211; Assassin&#8217;s Creed 3 director Alex Hutchinson outlines what went wrong with Skull and Bones Cursed ship. Image credit: Ubisoft News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on Feb. 25, 2026 Follow Skull and Bones Ubisoft is all in on Assassin&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1791953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1791953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1791953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1791953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1791953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}