Aconyte Books & Ubisoft collaborate to publish new game-based novels
Asmodee - October 2020Asmodee Entertainment are delighted to announce that Aconyte, the fiction imprint of global games group Asmodee, has secured a multi-year agreement with Ubisoft® to create brand new novels set in the worlds of some of their most beloved video games. With this agreement, Aconyte will become Ubisoft’s primary publishing partner of novels for adults. In addition to a wide range of new adventures based on existing video games, Aconyte will also be creating tie-ins for select upcoming game releases.
A full range of new novels will launch in spring 2021, with stories set in the worlds of Watch Dogs®, Beyond Good & Evil, Tom Clancy’s The Division and Splinter Cell, and more. These series will explore never-before-seen parts of these deeply imaginative settings to create a variety of original stories, some featuring fan-favourite characters, others opening up new possibilities for action and adventure.
Ubisoft and Aconyte will collaborate on three types of fiction:
- Originals: Original novels, with new characters in new settings based on Ubisoft’s franchises.
- Chronicles: Stories that showcase beloved characters from Ubisoft’s games in new adventures, side stories and untold tales.
- Classics: Direct novelizations of select Ubisoft games.
Ahead of the first new adventures, Aconyte are also delighted to announce that they will be publishing Watch Dogs: Legion: Day Zero, the official tie-in to the eagerly awaited Ubisoft action-adventure game Watch Dogs: Legion®. The London-set novel, written by bestselling thriller author James Swallow in partnership with Josh Reynolds, is a prequel to the events of the game. It will be published in late October 2020. Aconyte will also be the North American publisher of Geirmund’s Saga by Matthew J Kirby, the first thrilling tie-in to the sensational new Assassin’s Creed®: Valhalla, which launches in November.
“We’re utterly thrilled to be collaborating with Ubisoft to create and publish these new adventures,” said Aconyte publisher Marc Gascoigne. “Novelizations telling the story behind new games are always very entertaining, yet Aconyte’s mission goes further – to bring fans of the games and general readers alike a selection of untold stories that make these worlds truly come alive. We can’t wait to start exploring.”
“We are really happy to team up with Asmodee Entertainment. Thanks to their expertise in transmedia storytelling and community engagement, we will expand our universes with new, original stories told through a range of compelling novels,” said Julien Fabre, Ubisoft Associate Director, Publishing & TV Distribution.