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Darby McDevitt

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Darby Christopher McDevitt (born 1975) is a creative scriptwriter at Ubisoft's studio in Montreal. He was born in Spokane, educated in Bellingham and Dublin, and briefly lived in Seattle. With a diverse professional profile spanning more than a decade, he has worked as a writer, film maker, musician, and game designer.

Biography[edit | edit source]

Assassin's Creed[edit | edit source]

As an employee of Ubisoft, McDevitt's first foray into the Assassin's Creed series was as the lead writer in the Nintendo DS game Assassin's Creed II: Discovery, released in 2009. Following that was PSP game Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines released the same year.[1] McDevitt then began work on the Nintendo 3DS title Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy, which was revealed at E3 2010 but was silently cancelled in September. Content for it for then reused in Assassin's Creed: Revelations, released in November 2011, marking McDevitt's first mainline game.[2] McDevitt was also the lead writer of Assassin's Creed: Embers, a short film that acted as an epilogue to Revelations. During 2011's Comic-Con, McDevitt confirmed that Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze were not related to each other, and further explained that Altaïr came from Desmond Miles' maternal side of the family, while Ezio came from his father William.[3] Prior to the release of Revelations, in an interview with Game Informer, McDevitt revealed information about the game's setting and some of the characters.[4] During this time, McDevitt also provided additional storyline development consultation on the mobile game Assassin's Creed: Recollection.

In autumn 2011, McDevitt worked closely with the Assassin's Creed III development team as a narrative consultant and for possibly creating a downloadable expansion that would further explore naval missions and star Ratonhnhaké:ton's grandfather Edward Kenway. This idea eventually evolved into its own separate game, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, with McDevitt as lead writer and Ashraf Ismail as game director. As lead writer, McDevitt planned the full story with Jean Guesdon and mission director Mustapha Mahrach. He also wrote the main story arc, the modern day, as well as some lore.[5] Black Flag was later released in October 2013. In a Reddit AMA, McDevitt stated that there were no plans to continue Ratonhnhaké:ton's story, nor were there plans for a fully modern day Assassin's Creed game, and that Watch_Dogs was the closest thing to exist in that regard.[6]

In 2014, McDevitt was the co-writer for Assassin's Creed: Unity alongside Cameron Labine and Russell Lees. McDevitt stated that he wished for more modern day elements in Unity, but cited working on a new generation of console to be too big a hurdle for creating multiple modern day elements in addition to main game elements. McDevitt also revealed he had plans for the Isu lore, and together with the Assassin's Creed narrative team had created 500-700 years worth of Isu history.[7]

McDevitt acted as an narrative consultant for Assassin's Creed: Origins during its early phases from 2013-2016, working on research and conception also. However, he left midway through production when he got an offer to work on a new IP.[8]

In 2020, McDevitt returned to the franchise as narrative director for the upcoming Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. In May, McDevitt revealed that Layla Hassan's story would continue after it started in Origins and was expanded in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey and its three-part downloadable expansion The Fate of Atlantis, teasing that players who fully completed Valhalla would learn story references to unresolved plot points from past games. Talking with GameSpot about the protagonist then known only as "Eivor", McDevitt revealed that the developers' approach to the character was different compared to previous games. When questioned about the Norse mythology, McDevitt's response was that "[they] wanted to take a grounded approach [and] portray this culture as people who legitimately believed in these things".[8] McDevitt later confirmed via Twitter that both gender options were considered canon in a way that would make logical sense.[9] On 13 July, McDevitt revealed that Valhalla's story would take place "over many years".[10] On 29 August, in a retweet of an official promotional image of Lincolnshire, McDevitt revealed that Lincoln and the territory of Lincolnshire were the first things created for Valhalla back in 2018.[11] On 20 September, McDevitt confirmed the appearance of Sherwood Forest as an in-game location.[12]

On 26 March 2021, he announced on Twitter that he would be stepping away from his position at Ubisoft Montreal and thanked the fans who supported his and the team's work over the years.[13] However, his leave would not last long, as he teased his involvement Ubisoft Montreal and their work on Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe on 10 September[14] before announcing on 12 November that he was returning to Ubisoft to continue working on Assassin's Creed, adding that he was very excited about the places the series was going and stories it would tell.[15]

Personal life[edit | edit source]

McDevitt's stage name is "DCMCDXVIII", which is an incorrect Roman numeral for 1818, while the first five letters of it are his full name's initials. When asked in a 2011 interview where he would like a new Assassin's Creed game to be set, McDevitt mentioned that he found the setting of Ireland interesting, especially in the last 200 years of Irish history.[16] Despite his wish, Ireland would not become a playable region for 10 years, when Valhalla's downloadable expansion Wrath of the Druids was released in May 2021. Even then, Darby had stepped away from the company when it debuted, and the expansion was still set during the Viking Age rather than anything close to the modern day history he was interested in.

Assassin's Creed credits[edit | edit source]

Awards and nominations[edit | edit source]

Year Award Award Category Title of Work Result
2012 Writers Guild of America Award Achievement in Videogame Writing Assassin's Creed: Revelations Nominated
2012 Canadian Game Awards Best Writing Assassin's Creed: Revelations Nominated
2013 Canadian Game Awards Best Writing Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Won
2014 Writers Guild of America Award Achievement in Videogame Writing Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Nominated
2021 BAFTA Games Awards Best Narrative Assassin's Creed: Valhalla Nominated
2021 Canadian Game Awards Best Narrative Assassin's Creed: Valhalla Nominated

External links[edit | edit source]


References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Darby McDevitt on Wikipedia
  2. ↑ Gilbert, Ben (14 July 2011). Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy's concept found in Revelations. Engadget. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved on 26 May 2020.
  3. ↑ Totilo, Stephen (22 July 2011). What I Thought I Knew About Assassin's Creed Revelations Was Partially Wrong. Kotaku. Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved on 22 July 2011.
  4. ↑ Assassin's Creed Revelations: The Truth Behind The Fiction on the Playstation354 YouTube channel
  5. ↑ Ubisoft (29 November 2019). Assassin's Creed®: The Rebel Collection – Interview with Jean Guesdon, Ashraf Ismail, and Darby McDevitt. Ubisoft. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved on 26 May 2020.
  6. ↑ Reilly, Luke (6 November 2013). Assassin's Creed: Unlikely Connor's Story Will Continue, Modern Day Assassin Doubtful. IGN. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved on 26 May 2020.
  7. ↑ Phillips, Tom (25 February 2015). Future Assassin's Creed games will have "more robust modern day" than Unity. Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved on 26 May 2020.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hussain, Tamoor (1 May 2020). Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Narrative Director On Crafting A Unique New Story. GameSpot. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved on 26 May 2020.
  9. ↑ Darby McDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) on Twitter "Both choices are canon, but we’re not going to spoil how we managed that trick until you play the game." (screenshot)
  10. ↑ Darby McDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) on Twitter "Over many years in fact." (screenshot)
  11. ↑ Darby McDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) on Twitter "Fun Fact: Lincoln and the territory of Lincolnshire was the first area we built and the first long-form story we wrote for ACV, beginning 2 years ago. I have a special place in my heart reserved for the characters here. Can’t wait for you to meet them." (screenshot)
  12. ↑ Darby McDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) on Twitter "Robin Hood would have been operating in AC1s time period. We're still 300 years from that era. A certain famous forest is in ACV, however, so you may pretend to be Robin's ancestor." (screenshot)
  13. ↑ Darby McDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) on Twitter "Today is my last day at Ubisoft Montreal! After a decade of working with brilliant people, creating stories & characters for an incredible series, & interacting with our wonderful fans, I have decided to set forth on a new adventure... 1/2 pic.twitter.com/mhV4UntJ6m" (screenshot)
    Darby McDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) on Twitter "A special thanks to all the fans & content creators that have supported & expanded on our work over the years. Thank you for your kind attention! You have my deepest respect & admiration. It has been the honor of a lifetime to get to know so many of you. 2/2" (screenshot)
  14. ↑ Darby McDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) on Twitter "On the horizon... can't wait to share more." (screenshot)
  15. ↑ Darby McDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) on Twitter "It's true! As I pondered my career over the past year, I focused on my desire to explore new ideas and unknown frontiers. Much to my delight, this is reflected in my return to Ubisoft to work on AC. I’m excited to continue my journey. Stay tuned! 1/2" (screenshot)
    Darby MdDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) on Twitter "On a personal note, I have never been more excited about the places we're going and the stories I get to tell with this crew. 2/2" (screenshot)
  16. ↑ Sillis, Ben (14 November, 2011). Where does Assassin's Creed Revelations writer want to go next?. Electricpig. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved on 5 March 2012.

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