Francois Tallec, vice president, global partnerships and consumer products, Ubisoft, shares Ubisoft’s 20th anniversary plans for “Assassin’s Creed” – and what his team hopes to do next.
As “Assassin’s Creed” approaches its 20th anniversary in 2027, it has a lot to be proud of. In addition to its 20 years in the pop culture zeitgeist, the video game series has seen more than a dozen different games launched. As of 2026, Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed” franchise surpassed 250 million units sold and a Netflix television show is on the way.
To bolster the 20th anniversary plans, Ubisoft is exhibiting at Brand Licensing Europe, ready to sign more deals and bring “Assassin’s Creed” to its newest era. Francois Tallec, vice president, global partnerships and consumer products, Ubisoft, told License Global more about plans for “Assassin’s Creed’s” 20th year and beyond.
The Art of Reinvention
According to Tallec, what has allowed this game series to continue to sell and gain popularity is the series’ ability to do something different every time a game is released.
“What is super important for us is crafting a new universe and new experience every time,” says Tallec. “The challenge is knowing that it’s a new assassin, new storyline, new settings and a new period of time. It’s how we can continue to surprise, to create something while not being redundant. It’s fully inspired by an historical moment – an epic moment. We work with historians and it’s a challenge every time to be as accurate as possible and follow the flavor of this period. Having the DNA be the same but then adjusting to be sure that it’s still a modern franchise is a challenge for us. We are not stuck in the past. Innovation and new experiences are something of a super key for us. I think this is what the fans love.”
Love is an understatement. The recently released “Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynched” sold more than two million copies in its first 24 hours. “Assassin’s Creed” is Ubisoft’s top-selling IP and having a video game franchise continue to put out games for more than two decades isn’t a common occurrence in the industry. That’s why Tallec and his team plan on making the 20th anniversary a celebration of not just the IP, but the fandom that has kept it going.
“This is thanks to the fans,” says Tallec. “Everything we are doing regarding the franchise is for the fans. The idea is to create some unique moments for the fans and the community all year long to celebrate the franchise, but also with interaction and with what has been super important within the franchise: the different characters. We are not following the same assassin, but different assassins. The community should be aware that they’re going to expect surprise. They will be happy to see surprises in different regions of the world. We are excited to announce different activations during the coming years – those announcements are coming soon.”
Products and experiences in the “Assassin’s Creed” consumer products program include figures from Pure Art (a longtime collaborator with Ubisoft) and Funko; apparel from “gameswear” company Fulllife; tabletop games, card games, gaming accessories from Secret Lab; coffee table and art books; concerts; VR experiences like “Temple of Anubis;” museum integrations; pop-up stores; building blocks by Wise Block and more.
Tallec is hoping to integrate more of these types of products, alongside amusement park rides, live experiences, pop-up events and more in the future.
“We try to move at our own speed and not to be as opportunistic as possible,” Tallec continues. “At the beginning, I think it was complicated for people to understand why you say no. It’s super easy to damage an IP if we are not working with the right partners. It’s not doing a copy-paste of what the others are doing. I think what we try to do, especially because of the uniqueness of the historical stuff, is to do something unique, and we are happy to have a product team super involved. That’s why we have been successful.”
From One Screen to Another
The success is set to continue with not only a new “Assassin’s Creed” game in the works (“Codename Hexe”), but also an “Assassin’s Creed” television show currently in production through Netflix. It’s part of what Tallec calls Ubisoft’s transmedia strategy.
“Transmedia for us means everything related to books, to the TV series, to movies – every time we’re creating stuff, the main concern is creating new content for the fans and to be sure that it will be available worldwide,” says Tallec. “On ‘Assassin’s Creed,’ the challenge is how to transfer something unique in terms of video games into the real world through live action. The story is also a challenge because it’s mixing past and present. And for non-gamers, we need to set up and implement everything. We’re super happy to be able to team up with Netflix because they are the best in town to be able to create all this – a feeling and the environments. We are convinced that the first TV series will be an epic moment. It’s not a short-term strategy, what we’re doing.”
The series, according to Tallec, will surprise fans, and the hope is to bring in new fans and expand the “Assassin’s Creed” universe even more for fans that are already excited for the show.
“It’s to extend the franchise and to have people who are not playing be able to discover ‘Assassin’s Creed,’” he says. “Then, thanks to the various games, they can try to go deeper into a universe by playing.”
What Makes ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Tick
From its signature parkour to the assassin’s leap of faith, Tallec and his team have zeroed in on the DNA of “Assassin’s Creed” to create a cohesive consumer products program for the series, alongside Ubisoft’s agent, IMG.
“The people responsible for developing products with partners are the same people who create the video games,” says Tallec. “The creative directors, or at least their teams, are directly involved in the process. I think this is one of our strengths: maintaining clear, direct communication between our licensees and our teams. It is truly a creator-to-creator relationship. We’re working with IMG, and we have had a collaboration for seven years now. They fully understand the franchise. Sometimes we don’t know if they are part of Ubisoft or IMG, because we’re spending such a huge amount of time together, and the success of the consumer products is also because of them.”
As the success of the “Assassin’s Creed” universe continues, Tallec and his team are looking for global partners who can help continue to bring the brand to life. Tallec says his team is picky with what deals they decide to sign, but global reach is the goal.
“As an international company based in France, we have a special connection not only to France, but also to Europe,” says Tallec. “It’s super important, when you’re creating something for the community, not to limit it to a specific region, because otherwise it can feel unfair. We try to be as global as possible, particularly in the U.S., Europe and Asia. We do, however, have a number of regional partners.”
Tallec says that working on the consumer products for “Assassin’s Creed” has been an “incredible journey,” especially when he sees players around the world taking part in the adventure.
“After the release of the second ‘Assassin’s,’ set in the Italian Renaissance in Venice, there were lots of fans who’ve gone to Venice to discover the city and see if it was accurate,” Tallec says. “That means we are doing our job properly. I expect that the TV series is going to unleash and unlock more. What we’re doing is for the fans first. Players are at the center of everything. What we’re trying to create are the products the fans are looking for and love.”
The goal for the Ubisoft team is to expand the experiences of “Assassin’s Creed,” faithfully adapt the video game series and bring something different to the consumer products community. Tallec says that for the 20th anniversary, fans can expect just that.
“I can tell you that the 20th anniversary is going to be massive” reveals Tallec. “Over the coming months we have plenty of exciting announcements to share.”
For more information on licensing opportunities with Assassin's Creed, visit https://imglicensing.com/brands/assassins-creed/.
