The Notre Dame cathedral last week experienced a destructive fire that left in its wake massive amounts of damage to the historical structure. The news left Parisians and the world devastated. UbiSoft, looking to aid in its restructuring, has spoken officially about the matter in a press release:

"Notre-Dame is an integral part of Paris, a city to which we are deeply connected. Seeing the monument in peril like this affected us all. In light of Monday's events, we will be donating 500k EU (564,992 USD) to help with the restoration and reconstruction of the Cathedral We encourage all of you who are interested to donate as well"

UbiSoft went on to offer Assassin's Creed: Unity, which features an incredible realistic rendition of Notre-Dame, free for one week on PC with Uplay from the UbiSoft Store.

"...We want to give everyone the chance to experience the majesty and beauty of Notre-Dame the best way we know how."

The Assassin's Creed series is rich with lore inspired by European history, and this disaster hit the French-based company figuratively and literally close to home. I view this as a great and selfless gesture from UbiSoft to go towards restoring this monument. In interest of impartiality, it's become a little too easy nowadays to view the leaders in the game industry as not being consumer friendly, especially with the reputation that many of the AAA developing companies have with fans. At the heart of many games comes the inspiration to create art, and Assassin's Creed has sought in its series to bring to life moments through its eyes.

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

Sources: Gamebyte, UbiSoft