A Wren Says

You probably thought you were just playing an immersive video game. If you have ever played Assassin’s Creed Unity, you probably really enjoyed the game play. There was no way when you powered up your console and ran through the virtual world at its initial release just how powerful it would be in the world of art. That’s what I learned when I attended a talk at the La Touche Francaise house as SXSW 2025.

Ubisoft, the maker of Assassin’s Creed takes attention to detail seriously. When they went about designing the game, based in the time of the French Revolution, they made sure to include specific architectural details. One of those was Notre Dame, designed to be as accurate to the 18^th century design as possible, with some alterations for game play.

After the Cathedral of Notre Dame burned in 2019, there were many who looked to the game designers, in hopes that their 3D renderings would assist with rebuilding efforts. Unfortunately, the inaccuracies in the design didn’t make that a good choice. However, their work highlighted the power of translating art to the virtual world.

Ubisoft has since developed Discovery Tours, where users can travel virtually through historical landscapes to learn what it was like to live during those times. They have also worked with Micro-Folie to develop virtual museums, that increase access to the arts for French school children and communities.

All of that was made possible because of a little attention to detail. Doing what they did, in their own space of video games well opened doors for these other opportunities to expand into new avenues. For me, that is the lesson that is really resonating. My take away from that talk moves beyond the power of VR to bring arts to masses. I’m taking with me the idea that specializing and becoming an expert in my lane will help open up new pathways I may have never expected.