Ubisoft has offered its support in the wake of the partial destruction of the iconic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, in which a fire caused the roof and spire of the 800 year old building to collapse.
From now until April 25, you’ll be able to download and play Assassin’s Creed: Unity for free on PC. Unity is notable for letting players explore a gorgeous digital version of late 18th century Paris, complete with a painstakingly detailed recreation of Notre Dame itself.
Ubisoft said in a statement:
Ubisoft wants to give all gamers the chance to experience the majesty and beauty of the cathedral. You can download Assassin’s Creed Unity on PC for free here, and you’ll own it forever in your Uplay games library.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity artist Caroline Miousse, told The Verge a while back that Ubisoft’s version of Notre Dame was easily the biggest building in the game, and that she spent ‘literally years fussing over the details of the building’.
Miousse apparently obsessed over old photos to get everything just right, and even worked with texture artists to ensure that ‘each brick was as it should be’. As such, it’s fitting that gamers get the chance to see a version of the cathedral while repairs on the real thing take place.
A previous report from GPS World, suggested that detailed 3D maps such as the one in Unity will play a role in the restoring of Notre Dame to its former glory. A spokesperson Ubisoft told us that the company is “not currently involved” in the reconstruction process, but that it’d be “more than happy” help in any way it can.
As a result, Ubisoft is also pledging €500,000 to the reconstruction effort, and encourages “all who want to help with the restoration and reconstruction of the Cathedral to join Ubisoft in donating.”
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.