A few days ago, the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris has tragically caught on fire. While no soul was lost, the medieval wonder of the world has significant cultural values that has surely perished.
And so, French-based publishers Ubisoft has now made a pledge to help in the efforts to restore and reconstruct the Parisian landmark. They will be donating €500,000 for the efforts.
“We stand in solidarité with our fellow Parisians and everyone around the world moved by the devastation the fire caused,” the statement by Ubisoft reads. “Notre-Dame is an integral part of Paris, a city to which we are deeply connected. Seeing the monument in peril like this affected us all.”
In addition, Ubisoft is letting everyone explore Notre-Dame as it was depicted in Assassin’s Creed Unity, which is now free on PC via Uplay. The landmark, including its interiors, are fully explorable in the game, depicted close to the real-life counterpart.
The offer is available until April 25th, 3PM Malaysian time (+8GMT). You can claim it here. Or go to your Uplay launcher and visit the store tab and claim it from there.
While it’s no replacement for the real thing, there is documentation on how the developers have spent a lot of effort recreating the landmark into the virtual world of French Revolution-era Paris, in which Unity was set. Sure, the game’s launch was a disaster and was poorly received, but efforts made by these developers are not in vain in light of recent events. There has been talks that Unity’s accurate depiction of the cathedral could help in the restoration efforts.
See, video games is doing something good for the world.
Source: Ubisoft