If there's one element that's come to define modern Assassin's Creed titles, and really modern Ubisoft games as a whole, it's an inordinate amount of "bloat." Think tons of collectibles, checkboxes on the map, side missions without much consequence and oodles of loot.
It's prevalent enough that when it was revealed that Assassin's Creed Shadows wouldn't have a map as big as Valhalla or Odyssey, it was considered a sigh of relief for longtime fans. The same can be said about Assassin's Creed Mirage, which felt like a breath of fresh air due to its more throwback experience, largely due to less bloat.
As it turns out, there's a reason why modern Assassin's Creed is almost uncognizable for longtime fans, and the answer isn't all that surprising when you really think about it.
In a new interview with GamesRadar, Alex Hutchinson, who directed Assassin's Creed 3 and Far Cry 4, two titles almost universally recognized as being the last of their kind, revealed just how things got to where we're at now.
"At the time, there was a lot of pressure inside Ubisoft to 'keep the disc in the tray' to essentially try to delay resale as GameStop was the...
