Former Ubisoft developer accuses Shadow of Mordor of using code from Assassin's Creed

While many viewers commented that the Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor video shown above bore a striking stylistic resemblance to Assassin's Creed, a former Ubisoft developer took those accusations one step further. In a series of Twitter posts today, Charles Randall, claimed that Shadow of Mordor was using code he worked on for Assassin's Creed II.

Randall is credited as a team lead in AI fight systems and senior gameplay programmer at Ubisoft Toronto according to his LinkedIn profile. His work on Assassin's Creed II focused primarily on combat.

Writing "Check it out guys! I apparently made a Middle Earth game" and linking to the Shadow of Mordor walkthrough video above, Randall followed up with the comment, "I know I don't have any legal rights to what I did on Assassin's Creed 2 but I sure hope I get a special thanks on that Middle Earth game." In the same thread, he clarified to another Twitter user, "I'm fine with it if people know what it is. But if they think they are going to sneak this under the radar... SO MUCH NOPE."

In another series of tweets, Randall wrote, "Seriously, can someone tell me how Assassin's Creed 2 code and assets are in this Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor game?" and, "Watch the video. That's AC2 stuff in there. Code/anim for sure." When another user claimed the battles bore more in common with Batman: Arkahm series than Assassins' Creed, Randall wrote, "I spent two years staring at AC2. I know it when I see it."

Despite the criticisms, Randall expressed his appreciation for Shadow of Mordor as well. "For the record though, that Middle Earth game looks pretty damn awesome. And I love AC2 so it's kind of a double win."

Representatives from Ubisoft had no official comment on the potential controversy. We've reached out to Warner Bros. Interactive (the publisher behind Shadow of Mordor) for further clarification, but have yet to receive a reply.