Last week, Ubisoft gave fans another glimpse at what its many studios have in development from the bigger names like Watch Dogs: Legion, to smaller titles like the highly requested return of Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game. One title that got plenty of time in the spotlight is Immortals: Fenyx Rising, a game that many may remember was originally revealed back in 2019 under a completely different name. Why Ubisoft decided to move away from the name Gods & Monsters was largely a mystery, though the game’s director is finally giving answers.
Taking place in a stylized classic Greek world, players will be interacting with the many Gods of the pantheon such as Zeus as they go up with monsters like cyclops, medusa, and more. While the original Gods & Monsters clearly fit the aesthetic and themes Ubisoft Quebec is going for, it felt a bit generic to them. As director Scott Phillips reveals, the name change to Immortals: Fenyx Rising really started to take shape towards the end of 2019 as the team really got to spend more time with the title following its delay.
From a narrative standpoint, the studio wanted to place a much bigger focus on the main character, their journey through the game, and how they ultimately interact with the Gods in it. One way to do that was to change the game’s name, which seemed to place a greater emphasis on the various Gods in the game and monsters to fight rather than Fenyx. So, the new title is actually intended to better reflect how important Fenyx is to the overall narrative going from normal human to demi-god.
While the team maintains that the naming shift comes from a creative direction only, there may actually be a bit more to it than that. As it turns out, Monster Energy challenged Ubisoft’s trademark application for Gods & Monsters, placing the application on hold. Monster Energy claimed that it had made Monster trademarks famous long before Ubisoft filed, and that it has a history of using the name inside of gaming and esports. The company felt that Ubisoft’s trademark would undermine and cause confusion with consumers.
Based on the timeline, Ubisoft would have seen the claim back in October 2019 and although Ubisoft officially disputed the claim, it seems the company may have capitulated to the request rather than continue to fight it.
While Immortals: Fenyx Rising has gone under a number of transformations during its development, how the idea for the game actually started inside of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. As the team worked on the ambitious and Greek-inspired Assassin’s Creed game, the team ran into a visual bug with the player’s ship crew. Instead of being populated by humans, the crew had actually been turned into a ship full of cyclopses. Instead of reacting in horror at the mistake, the team ran with the idea of doubling down on Ancient Greek mythology, ultimately leading to Immortals: Fenyx Rising.
Immortals: Fenyx Rising is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: GameSpot; GamesIndustry
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