Assassin’s Creed III DLC: George Washington is King

Ubisoft has announced new downloadable content for Assassin’s Creed III. Set in an alternate version of history, The Tyranny of King Washington is a single-player campaign that will be told through multiple downloadable content packs and features George Washington becoming king of America.

“As the revolution comes to a close, a new and most unexpected enemy emerges,” Ubisoft explains. “Driven by the desire to secure the fate of the colonies, the greatest hero of the revolution, George Washington, succumbs to the temptation of infinite power. The new King is born and his reign leaves no one untouched. To return freedom to the land our new hero must dethrone a tyrant he once called friend.”

The story will be told through three episodic content packs, all of which will be available by purchasing the Assassin’s Creed III Season Pass, which will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC for $29.99 (2400 Microsoft Points). The Pass will offer access to five content packs in all, including single-player content as well as maps and characters for multiplayer. According to Ubisoft, purchasing the Season Pass will account for a 25% savings versus buying packs individually, and Season Pass owners will have access to content one week ahead of other players.

“History is our playground – and AC teams have always loved playing with historical facts and their consequences as a way to better understand a time period,” said Ubisoft executive producer Sebastien Puel said of the Washington content. “While Assassin’s Creed III concentrates on history as it happens, we wanted to take some liberties with this DLC and tell you how things ‘could have happened.’”

Assassin’s Creed III is less than 30 days away, hitting Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 30th, followed by a Wii U version on November 18th and a PC version on November 23rd. The downloadable content will “also be available for the Wii U,” Ubisoft said, but no specific timeframe was revealed.

For more on Assassin’s Creed III, read our hands-on impressions in the frontier and find even more details in our Assassin’s Creed III wiki guide.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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Get Started Playing ShootMania: Elite!

IGN Pro League, Ubisoft, and Nadeo are giving away thousands of ShootMania beta keys in preparation for the $100,000 live Elite tournament at IPL5 at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas!

If you're interested in some competitive play for a chance at some huge prize money, watch the video above to see how to go from not having a beta key to playing Elite and destroying people online!

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IPL and ShootMania at PAX Top 5 Plays and VODs

IGN Pro League, Ubisoft, and Nadeo teamed up at PAX Prime to bring you the first taste of ShootMania as a competitive title with a $1,000 Elite showmatch between esp and Area 51 Gaming, as well as a fans and pros tournament that let PAX attendees show their skills for a $500 prize!

The video above shows some of the crazy plays made by our qualifying team, esp, as well as some of the PAX attendees and their awesome, climactic attacking and defending rounds in Elite mode. For much, much more of the PAX Prime VODs and a taste of some of the other game modes, check out http://www.youtube.com/iplshootmania

There are games up from the fan tournament, like this set between EG.n0thing (Jordan Gilbert, current Counter Strike player for Evil Geniuses) and esp.gillz (Bryan Gilbert, former Quake and Unreal Tournament pro):

You can also see the entirety of the best of 7 showmatch between esp and Area 51 Gaming, beginning right here with Game 1:

There are also some VODs up from other game modes besides Elite, including this one from our Siege showmatch:

For dozens more Elite matches and exhibitions of the other game modes ShootMania has to offer, check out http://www.youtube.com/IPLShootMania and subscribe now so that you don't miss any of the future action!

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Ubisoft Opens New Performance Capture Studio

Ubisoft has opened a new “world-class performance capture studio” in Toronto that will work on future projects, including Splinter Cell: Blacklist. The facility is state-of-the-art and aims to “create deeper characters, more immersive storytelling and more filmic, actor-driven games” through voice, facial and body performance capture. All actors will be captured at the same time, allowing performances to feel more like film.

The studio includes a 2,000 square foot performance space to allow multiple actors to perform at once, as well as 80 high-resolution Vicon T160 motion capture cameras. The facility will also use wireless helmet cameras for accurate facial capture, with footage synched in real time to voice and body capture. A sound stage and rigging beams that allow for stunt performances are also available to capture “dynamic, physical scenes for games.”

“We are extremely proud to unveil a performance capture studio in Toronto after just two years of operation in the city,” said Ubisoft Toronto and Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat. “This is about more than just the creation of a cutting-edge facility. It’s about Ubisoft transforming our approach to storytelling with a focus on acting talent and the delivery of the highest-quality performance output for our cinematics and animation teams. The studio also is a testament to our confidence in the talent in Ontario to deliver some of the best performance capture in the industry for games.”

In addition to Blacklist, the studio will contribute to capture for future Ubisoft projects from all 26 of its worldwide studios. Ubisoft Toronto will also partner with Screen Industries and Research Training Center of Sheridan College “to identify, define and pursue research projects in the field of virtual production to reach new levels of excellence.”

Ubisoft originally announced plans to expand to Toronto in July 2009. Original Assassin’s Creed producer Jade Raymond was later chosen to head the studio. Raymond said in 2010 that Toronto was working on a Splinter Cell game (later revealed to be Blacklist) in addition to an unannounced title.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist was announced at E3 and blends the fast-paced style of 2010’s Splinter Cell Conviction with classic Splinter Cell gameplay, including the return of Spies vs. Mercs. For more, read our impressions from E3.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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Ubisoft's Uplay May Sell Third-Party Games

Ubisoft has revealed it may add titles from other publishers to its Uplay app in the future.

Speaking with MCV, the company's Stephanie Perotti revealed that whilst Uplay currently only offers the company's own PC titles, this may all change in the future in a bid to challenge EA's Origin service and Valve's Steam.

"We remain open to opportunities," she said. "Right now, we’re starting the service with our own games, but as we go forward, we plan to potentially add other titles."

Though Uplay first launched in 2009 as an achievement tracking service that allowed players to use points to unlock DLC and extras in Ubisoft's other titles, it was only with last month's revamp that it became possible to download games directly. That update also saw the addition of friends lists and chat systems, bringing it in line with what's on offer in Steam and Origin.

Perotti added that this is just the beginning though, and promised further changes were on the way to re-incorporate the best bits of the old design with the new digital distribution platform.

"The plan for UPlay goes beyond digital distribution," said Perotti.

"We continue to evolve the service across all platforms, including PC, console and mobile. The more Ubisoft games you play, the more rewards you can get, as well as several online services that players would expect."

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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