Ubisoft Anvil (until 2009 known asScimitar and between 2012 and 2020 asAnvilNext) is agame engine created byUbisoft Montreal and used in theAssassin's Creed video game series as well as otherUbisoft games. The engine is used onMicrosoft Windows,macOS,Nintendo Switch,Nintendo Switch 2,PlayStation 3,PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5,PlayStation Vita,Wii U,Xbox 360,Xbox One,Xbox Series X/S andStadia. Ubisoft Anvil is one of the primary game engines used by Ubisoft along withDisrupt,Dunia, andSnowdrop.[1]
The engine was originally known as Scimitar.[2] Creative Director of Ubisoft MontrealPatrice Désilets said the engine was written from the ground up forAssassin's Creed in 2007.[3] The engine usesAutodesk'sHumanIK middleware to correctly position the character's hands and feet in climbing and pushing animations at run-time. Anvil was improved forAssassin's Creed II to include a full night and day cycle, enhanced draw distance, the same vegetation technology used inFar Cry 2, improved lighting, reflection and special effects, new cloth system, and a new AI and NPC navigation system.[4]Assassin's Creed: Lineage short films made by Hybride Technologies (apost-productionVFX studio acquired by Ubisoft) and Ubisoft Digital Arts used assets from Anvil to recreate the environment in which the live actors are filmed.[5][6]Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and select versions ofPrince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands run on an improved revision of Anvil.[7][8]Assassin's Creed: Revelations in 2011 was the last game to have been developed on the first generation Anvil.[9]
In 2012 an updated version was released called AnvilNext, which was developed forAssassin's Creed III and beyond, featuring a number of enhancements.[10][11][12][13] AnvilNext features global illumination and support for a new weather system, which allows for specific weather settings as well as an automatically cycling mode as seen inAssassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.[14][15][16] The renderer was rewritten for higher efficiency and support for additional post-processing techniques, enabling up to 2,000 non-playable characters to be rendered in real time (compared to the few hundreds in the previous Anvil engine).[17][18][19] AnvilNext adds technology fromFar Cry 3 wherein loading screens have been removed when transitioning from travelling on land to navigating the seas.[20]Assassin's Creed Rogue in 2014 was the last game to use AnvilNext.[21]
AnvilNext 2.0 made its debut in 2014 withAssassin's Creed Unity.[22] AnvilNext 2.0 is capable of generating structures in a flexible and automatic manner while following specific design rules and templates, which reduces the amount of time and manual effort required for artists and designers to create an intricate urban environment. Specific landmarks, such as theNotre Dame de Paris, are still designed by hand but now could be rendered at an almost 1:1 ratio to its real-life counterpart. AnvilNext 2.0 also features improved AI for non-playable characters.[23][24] The engine was rebuilt from the ground up for the game.[25][26][27][28] AfterAssassin's Creed Unity was released with multiple technical issues at launch, Ubisoft made fixes and improved the engine forAssassin's Creed Syndicate.[29][30][31][32] AnvilNext 2.0 would be further refined forAssassin's Creed Origins andAssassin's Creed Odyssey.[1][33] Aside from theAssassin's Creed series, AnvilNext 2.0 would be used for other Ubisoft games includingTom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege,[34]For Honor,[35]Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands,[36] andTom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint.[37]
Beginning withAssassin's Creed Valhalla in 2020, the engine was rebranded as Ubisoft Anvil.[38] Ubisoft Anvil would also be used forPrince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake,[39]Immortals Fenyx Rising,[40] andAssassin's Creed Mirage.[41] Ubisoft announced they will continue to upscale and develop the engine.[42][43] An upgraded Anvil engine version is used forAssassin's Creed Shadows,[44][45][46] enhancing lighting, introducing breakable props, and implementing a new seasonal system which progresses through time.[47][48][49]
The engine received a variety of significant upgrades, including advancedglobal illumination,reflection mapping,volumetric lighting, dynamic weather, and dynamic foliage. ForAssassin's Creed Unity there has been a similar upgrade, advanced control mechanics withphysically based rendering (PBR) being the stand-out addition, enabling materials, objects and surfaces to look and react more realistically to lighting, shading and shadowing. Furthermore, the global illumination system is now more realistic with the addition of volumetric technology, physics-led objects react more realistically, and cloth behaves in a realistic manner on the protagonist, in the environment, and on other characters. The world now supports larger landmasses, more objects, bigger buildings, building interiors that can be accessed without loading screens, and many other additions that enhance visual fidelity, immersion, and the gameplay.[14][23]
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