Assassin's Creed began as a planned spin-off of which video-game series?

Assassin's Creed began as a planned spin-off of the Prince of Persia video-game series.

During development at Ubisoft Montreal, the concept evolved from ideas connected to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The team explored a game centered on a younger character who would serve a prince, and this concept gradually developed into a separate story about assassins, secret societies, historical cities, and freer exploration.

The resulting project became Assassin's Creed rather than a direct Prince of Persia sequel or expansion. Its parkour movement, rooftop traversal, and emphasis on historical environments retained design connections to the earlier series, while the Animus and modern-day narrative established a new identity.

Splinter Cell and Far Cry are also major Ubisoft franchises, but neither was the source series for Assassin's Creed's original concept. Rayman is another Ubisoft property, yet it has no direct developmental relationship to the Assassin's Creed origin. The first Assassin's Creed launched in 2007 after this transformation from spin-off concept into a new franchise.