A bit of controversy around the new Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End trailer sparked up Wednesday. The story trailer is meant to be a look at the motivation that drives Nathan Drake back into a life of adventure. However, a brief introspective scene may just show artwork from Assassin’s Creed.
Ubisoft Montreal Head of Content Azaïzia Aymar watched the Uncharted 4 trailer and spotted some of his company’s own work at the 1:36 mark.
“Woooow Uncharted 4 using one of ACIV artwork in their trailer… I get the ‘thief’ title now!” he wrote on Twitter.
What Aymar saw that prompted the Twitter post was Drake looking at this painting on the mantle.
This just happens to looks exactly like the following piece of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag concept art. The only difference is the image is slightly cropped to cut off the character standing on the beach.
Aymar doesn’t appear to have a problem with the art work being used in the Uncharted 4 trailer. His concern is that Naughty Dog did not seek permission from Ubisoft and did not credit the original artist who created the piece.
“It is not at all, we love them!” Aymar responded when a follower pointed out that maybe Naughty Dog just wanted to reference Assassin’s Creed because they like the game. “But asking before, or crediting the artist would have been a proper way to do it don’t you think?”
Update: Naughty Dog just posted the following apology on its website.
In our eagerness to get the story trailer out we made a regrettable mistake and didn’t thoroughly vet the art work used for an in game painting.We’ve already updated the trailer. We hold all artistry in high regard and take full responsibility for having allowed this to happen.
We want to sincerely apologize to everyone at Ubisoft, the Assassin’s Creed team, the original artist, and our fans.
Naughty Dog
[Image via PlayStation YouTube; h/t: Eurogamer]
Update: Here’s the updated story trailer for Uncharted 4
