REAC 2025 Anvil Rendering Architecture.
In this talk, we’ll present Anvil’s evolution into a centralized engine within a monorepo, powering multiple productions in a unified codebase. This structure introduces technical and organizational challenges, including modularization, shader complexity, and code divergence. We’ll explore Anvil’s rendering architecture, focusing on its GPU-driven mesh pipeline, frame graph, and shader binding. Performance optimization strategies, profiling tools, and our data-driven tuning approach via the “Platform Manager” will be detailed. We’ll also cover our insourced development of Fusion and share insights from shipping Assassin’s Creed Shadows in this ecosystem. The session includes code samples, and in-depth looks at key systems.
Speakers:
Nicolas Lopez is a Rendering Technical Architect on the Assassin's Creed brand and the Anvil Engine at Ubisoft Montreal. He has a passion for game engine architecture, global illumination and large scale rendering. He has contributed to several AAA titles such as Neverdead, Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Assassin's Creed Shadows. He's also contributed to various high profile engines such as Frostbite and Anvil.
Michel Bouchard is a Technical Architect working at Ubisoft since 2006. He has contributed to graphics technology on different franchises, notably Rainbow Siege, Watch Dogs, Far Cry and Assassin's Creed. Those experiences helped him shape the architecture foundation of Anvil's rendering pipeline. His main point of focus is to build and share tech that does have a significant impact on game quality.