Snowdrop

## Snowdrop, Ubisims AI

Although it (reportedly) did not achieve self-awareness until the Second Crash, the code of Ubisims’ Snowdrop AI can trace its origins back to 2009, when games designer Ubisoft had its Massive Entertainment studio begin work on a new proprietary game engine for use across multiple products current at the time (Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One).

Rodrigo Cortes, former brand art director at Massive Entertainment, once stated that that initially it was an engine built for PC and next-gen development to do "things better not bigger". The core of the game engine was powered by a "node-based system and the engine is a dynamic, interconnected and flexible system where developers can create their assets quickly and interact with them in ways that have never been done before.” Massive created a lighting and destruction system inspired by film production techniques.

The engine was entirely overhauled after the first Matrix Crash and with the creation of the new Matrix, Ubisoft (now rebranded as Ubisoft Simulations), the UbiHub was established in the Matrix as a central gaming space for all Ubisoft’s products, based on the post-crash SnowStorm engine, a direct descendant of the original Snowdrop engine, retooled for ASIST-compatibility.

Remaining popular through the 2040’s and ‘50’s, StowStorm and the later SnowFall engines increasingly became integrated into the backbone of the gaming and sims Matrix, forming the core of such popular offerings as *Dragonstorm* and *CanadiaOnline*. Starting in 2055, SnowFall 3.6 began integrating semi-autonomous knowbots into its architecture to manage updating, maintenance, opponent AI and other functions (part of a general overhaul leading up to the 2057 rebranding as Ubisims).

The big change, of course, came when everything changed, the Second Crash. Like most Matrix-based businesses, Ubisims systems were entirely crashed and most of their Sysadmins and a lot of their devs died in the crash. But when the surviving members of Ubisims IT department logged back in a few days later, they discovered that the system, while buggy as drek, was back up. And it shouldn’t have been. A further investigation revealed that the system had, well, started rebooting and defragging itself. And was very polite about inviting them to help.

Of course, this was late 2064, so everybody was entirely terrified of AI and in their terror there were two courses of action Ubisims could have taken: scorched earth or folding like origami. Ubisims chose the second course and immediately gave the newly self-named ‘Snowdrop’ (to honor its ancestors), whatever system resources it asked for, along with a massive bribe of stock options.

Of course, the question could be asked, in 2064, well before AI citizenship was even a topic of discussion, whether an AI could legally own stock.

To which Ubisims 2064 would have responded (in the politest and most european way possible):

“An AI just about ended the world earlier this week.”

“We have an AI now.”

“YOU tell the AI it can’t own stock.”

Go on. We’ll wait.

Anyway, today Snowdrop is a respected member of the board and lead creative designer for the Ubisoft, its influence having been especially lauded for its artistic direction on 2072’s successful *Canadia Reborn: Maple Wars*.
CR:MW was the first product Snowdrop had collaborated on since moving its primary servers in 2071 from their former location at Ubisims HQ in Montreuil , France  to the newly-refurbished Ubisims tower in Winnipeg , RRDMZ, a move many saw as being an attempt to circumvent new NEEC  restrictions on AI registration. Recently, Snowdrop has been involved in developing its AI-focused action-adventure *Shadowlink* series (beginning with *Shadowlink: Boston* in 2071, followed with *Shadowlink: Caracas* in 2074, with a third chapter, tentatively titled '*Shadowlink: Cairo'* due out later this year).

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