Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey No Longer Episodic, New Details and Gameplay

We’ve finally gotten some new information for Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, the new game from Assassin’s Creed creator Patrice Desilets and his new studio, Panache Digital Games.

The game is (thankfully) no longer episodic, and will seemingly let you partake in cannibalism among other fun things in a prehistoric, ancient open world. Featured above, you can view a new teaser trailer for the game, which got demoed at Reboot Develop 2017 in Croatia.

The third-person action game with survival elements now has all its systems working together in a seamless open world. Here’s a rundown of the new information, via VG247:


  • The game is no longer episodic as it’s grown too big.
  • The game is currently playable but isn’t ready to release anytime soon. Panache does have a date in mind for release so it’s not a “ship when it’s ready” affair.
  • “It’s a third-person action adventure game set 10 million to 2 million years ago,” according to Desilets.
  • There will be resource management and survival elements.
  • The team has discussed cannibalism and whether it should feature in the game as it has in human history.
  • On fighting or tribal conflict in the game: “Eventually, maybe, there will be conflict [in the game] but it’s not there yet.”
  • The game was originally about playing “hour to hour” when episodic, now it’s “open, bigger” and “has systems working together”.
  • The same animator who created Ezio in Assassin’s Creed and the prince in Prince of Persia is working on the characters of Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey.
  • A significant part of the game is set in Africa: “the game world is big,” says Desilets, but he’s not keen to spoil too much of the game ahead of the release.
  • “It’s the first time I’ve created a character who interacts with the jungle. There are no walls. What’s the light like? I’ve never worked on that before. There’s no sword, no swordfights. Eventually you get a branch…”
  • Desilets wants players to “have fun with the toy I’m giving you and you’ll create the story of your ancestors.”
  • Desilet’s other project, 1666: Amsterdam, is currently on hold while work continues on Ancestors.
  • The project is “well funded” and being built by 32 staff at the studio in Montreal. When you work at Panache, no one works on a Monday.
  • On hiring female staff to work on his game: “If the candidate has a dick he’s not hired. I’m not telling the story of humankind only with guys. It didn’t happen that way. You need to make babies.”

Panache Digital Games promised there is “much more to come in 2017.”

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