A portion of a Nintendo Life interview with Project Manager Robin Lavallée: Can you clarify for us which team has produced the Wii U version of this title?: This is a small team in Quebec Studio composed of about 15 people.: There were moments in the last release, such as crowded battle scenes, where the framerate would take a hit on the Wii U. Was that perceived to be an issue internally, and is it something that’s being addressed in Black Flag?: I’m happy you are asking the question, the team worked really hard during the last month to increase the performances on the Wii U version… and one of those points was the crowded battle scenes. So the quick answer is, yes we have worked to improve this on Black Flag.: Can you explain how the GamePad is being used in this release; will it have any additional functionality or features over its predecessor?: The GamePad is used to display the minimap during the gameplay as it was on AC3. All the menus are also displayed on the Wii U GamePad. One feature that was really appreciated on AC3 was the “Remote Play” where the whole game is played on the Wii U GamePad. We have added a shortcut to activate it more rapidly. You now just have to press and hold the left and right sticks for 1 second.: ACIII had full DLC support on Wii U but no “season pass”, can you clarify what support will be on Nintendo’s system in terms of both content and whether there’ll be a bundle DLC offer?: We are not ready to comment on this yet.: The online multiplayer community seemed to struggle to establish sustainable numbers for matches on the Wii U; can you share whether you have any concerns on that score for Black Flag?: That’s a good question. The team did a pretty good job to create an awesome multiplayer experience so it will attract players for sure. But the last word will come from the players that will buy the game.: How has your team found the experience of working on the Wii U, from a technical viewpoint?: The Wii U architecture poses some technical challenges that we’ve been able to thankfully overcome. It hasn’t been easy, but we’re really proud of the final result on this console.: Would you say the Black Flag team benefited from the experience of those that worked on the Wii U version of ACIII, and does increased familiarity improve the use of the system’s assets and capabilities?: The team that was working on Black Flag Wii U at the end have definitely benefited from the experience on ACIII Wii U. Technically speaking, Black Flag was taking ACIII and pushing a little bit further so having the Wii U experience in our team and studio was really helping us on every aspect of the game.: Are you confident that the Wii U will remain part of future plans for the Assassin’s Creed franchise?: We can’t talk about the future.. that’s a business decision that’s out of our hands. One thing for sure, the Wii U is a good console and can still have pretty good games on it so we can’t ignore it at the moment.