Assassin's Creed creator Patrice Désilets launches 1666: Amsterdam in Early Access

Patrice Désilets, the creative force behind Assassin's Creed, is bringing his supernatural action-adventure 1666: Amsterdam to Early Access on August 25. The title will launch for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, marking the first public release of a project that has spent over a decade in development hell.

Developed by Panache Digital Games, the Early Access version will be priced at $30 and provide players with approximately 10 hours of gameplay. According to Désilets, this represents "a pretty big chunk" of the game's content. The narrative centers on the Zandaris tribe and a group known as "Collectors," including a witch named Noa in 1666, who hunt corrupted magic users called "Originals" to restore worldly balance. The story is told across three overlapping timelines, featuring Noa, a civilian named Aaron in 1999, and a descendant of Noa in the modern era.

A 15-Year Legal Saga

The road to release has been defined by corporate conflict. The project originated around 2010-2011 at THQ Montreal, but following THQ's collapse in 2013, Ubisoft acquired the studio and the project. This acquisition triggered a series of hostile legal battles between Désilets and Ubisoft over the creative rights to the intellectual property. It was not until 2016 that Désilets finally regained the rights, forcing him to rebuild the game from the ground up at Panache Digital Games.

Shifting the Design Philosophy

This release represents a significant pivot in Désilets' design approach. While Assassin's Creed popularized massive open-world exploration and parkour, 1666: Amsterdam is positioned as a systemic "witchcraft thriller." The gameplay emphasizes occult investigation and tension over traditional power fantasies. This shift toward a more narrative-driven, atmospheric experience suggests a desire to move away from the scale of AAA open-world titles toward a more focused, systemic interaction model.

Market Interest and Next Steps

Early indicators suggest strong interest in the project. During Steam Next Fest, the game's free playable prologue—which remains available to the public—ranked among the top 50 most-played demos out of nearly 5,000 entries. As the game enters Early Access, the industry will be watching to see if the final product justifies the 15-year wait and whether the systemic approach to supernatural investigation can carve out a new niche in the action-adventure genre.