Ubisoft pledges €500,000 to Notre-Dame restoration

Ubisoft has pledged to donate €500,000 ($562,000/£432,000) to the Notre-Dame restoration efforts, after the iconic Paris cathedral was ravaged by a massive fire earlier this week.

“As the smoke clears on the events that unfolded on Monday at the Notre-Dame de Paris, we stand in solidarité with our fellow Parisians and everyone around the world moved by the devastation the fire caused,” the publisher said on its website.

Ubisoft’s also making the PC version of 2014’s Assassin’s Creed Unity, the eighth mainline entry in the series, free to download and keep via Uplay until 8am (your local time) on April 25.

Set primarily in Paris at the height of the French Revolution, the game features depictions of famous landmarks including the Gothic cathedral.

“When we created Assassin’s Creed Unity, we developed an even closer connection with this incredible city,” Ubisoft said.

“Video games can enable us to explore places in ways we never could have otherwise imagined,” it added. “We hope, with this small gesture, we can provide everyone an opportunity to appreciate our virtual homage to this monumental piece of architecture.”

Ubisoft recently confirmed a late-April launch date for its next major Assassin’s Creed Odyssey DLC, a story expansion called The Fate of Atlantis.

While there won’t a new mainline entry in the Assassin’s Creed series this year, the next game in the franchise will reportedly feature a Norse setting and Viking storyline.