The Ubisoft developers behind Valiant Hearts: Coming Home explain how the Netflix-exclusive game pays homage to a legendary American regiment from World War I.
The Ubisoft developers behind Valiant Hearts: Homecoming explained how their latest game pays homage to the Harlem Hellfighters, a legendary American regiment from World War I. Their deep dive into WWI history and their own artistic inclinations comes a week after the Netflix release Valiant Hearts: Homecoming.
The sequel to 2014’s critically acclaimed puzzle adventure Valiant Hearts: The Great War is the first of three games that Ubisoft has agreed to develop for Netflix under an exclusive partnership announced in September 2022. Much like its predecessor, the sequel tells the story of fictional characters in a historical setting inspired by events real. This time around players control James, a member of the 369th US Infantry Regiment, nicknamed Harlem Hellfighters after his roots in the 15th New York National Guard.
In a recently published interview with content manager Maya Loreal and historian John H. Morrow Jr., Ubisoft provided significant insight into how Valiant Hearts: Homecoming was born and how his team went about creating a game that was both historically accurate and inclusive. Loreal explained that representation was an early development goal for Go homewhich aims to pay tribute to the “unsung heroes” of the Harlem Hellfighters whose contributions to World War I have long been ignored, just like those of the 360,000 other African-American men who enlisted to fight in the horrific conflict .
Illustrating how this regiment celebrated by the new Valiant Hearts game was, Dr. Morrow Jr. recounted that the Harlem Hellfighters had never lost prisoners or ground to a German attack. Not only did they thus display the best service record in the history of the American Expeditionary Force, but they were also renowned for the exceptional talent of their group, led by the famous composer James Reese Europe. True to the name of their bandleader, the Hellfighters Band ended up bringing jazz to the Old Continent, cementing the legacy of the Harlem Hellfighters not only as brave soldiers, but also as cultural ambassadors, concludes the ‘historian.
Given the historical orientation of the game, Ubisoft paid particular attention to the music of Valiant Hearts: Homecoming. As Dr. Morrow Jr. explains, music – and jazz in particular – was not only a source of entertainment for the soldiers of the Harlem Hellfighters, but also a unifying force that transcended cultural and racial boundaries on the front lines. western. Valiant Hearts: Homecoming seeks to bring all this to light, and more.
The other two Netflix exclusives that Ubisoft has in the pipeline are a sequel to Mighty Quest for epic loot and a new one Assassin’s Creed game. Both are set to release on mobile devices later this year. Outside of its partnership with Netflix, Ubisoft has more mobile games planned for 2023.
Valiant Hearts: Homecoming is now available to Netflix subscribers on Android and iOS.
Source: Ubisoft