Psyop directors Todd Mueller and Kylie Matulick ramp up the fun and mischief in this launch film for the latest entry in Ubisoft’s Anno game franchise while blurring the line between “cinematic quality and gameplay integrity”.

Todd Mueller and Kylie Matulick: “We wanted to have fun with these amazing singing statues while showcasing the visual fidelity of the game world. The in-game environments were already rich with artistry and detail — this allowed us to focus our efforts on amplifying the game world and bring life and whimsy to our chorus of historical votives.

“The final film is the result of a tightly integrated creative workflow between Ubisoft Mainz, Psyop, and W+K Amsterdam. Previs took place inside Ubisoft’s proprietary The Empire Engine, where Psyop CD Matthias Bauerle collaborated directly with developers to storyboard scenes and refine the visual language.
 

“From camera choreography to environmental layout, what you see in the finished piece is largely captured straight from the game.”

 
“Rather than recreating game moments in CG (a common practice for game trailers) the team imported into the engine itself to stage scenes authentically. From camera choreography to environmental layout, what you see in the finished piece is largely captured straight from the game.

“To elevate the visuals further, Psyop built key foreground elements from scratch, including a series of singing statues, as a nod to the live action teaser featuring the singing town crier.

“Leveraging Anno’s in-game assets has opened a door to a fresh take on marketing for games — a pipeline where cinematic quality and gameplay integrity are no longer at odds, but synchronized in a shared mission to better shape the way games are introduced, experienced and remembered.”
 
 

 
Client: Ubisoft Mainz
EP: Stephane Jankowski
CD: Manuel Reinher
Production Director: Nadin Bernstorff
Sr. Producer: Christoph Knauz
Art Director: Reiko Gross
Lead Artist: Tim Witprächtiger
Lead Level Artist: Andreas Moritz
Senior Level Artist: Simon Wolf, Björn Frechenhäuser
Senior Lead 3D Programmer: Wolfgang Klose
Senior 3D Programmer: Aaron Scherzinger
Lead Tools Programmer: Loki Dalecke
Senior Tools Programmer: Nick Hügin
Junior Prop Artist: Andre Schliecker
3D Programmer: Jan Kelling, Ramin Safarpour
Sr. Game Writer: Matt Cook
Project Manager: Tommaso Jakob
Lead Creative Production: Darius Meyer

Agency: Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam

Production: Psyop
Director: Todd Mueller, Kylie Matulick
EP: Jen Cadic
Head of Production: Jamie Pastor
Producer: George Marks, Ines Palmas
CD/Lead Technical Director: Matthias Bauerle
Animation Supervisor: Ryan Moran
CG Generalist: Thomas Sali, Monika Gelbmann, Justus Schmidt
Designer: Samantha Ballardini
Modeler: Fynn Große-Bley, Ivan Joy, Aldo Solis
Texture Artist: Aldo Solis, Jan Ziemann
CG FX: Roman Hinkel
Nuke Compositor: Em Mai, Kevin Kim, Sarah Yoo, Gero Eckhardt
Storyboard Artist: Michael Deweese
Storyboard Editor: Nik Kelliher

In-Engine Capture: Ubisoft Mainz

Character Assets: Puppetworks EU

Soundtrack: W+K Amsterdam, Ubisoft Mainz