The framing story is set in the 21st century and features series protagonist Desmond Miles who, with the aid of a machine known as the Animus, relives the memories of his Assassin ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, to find a way to avert the 2012 apocalypse.
The plot is set in a fictional history of real-world events and follows the millennia-old struggle between the Assassins, who fight to preserve peace and free will, and the Templars, who desire peace through control. The game was first released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November and December 2010 and was later made available on Microsoft Windows in March and June 2011. It is the third major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and the second chapter in the 'Ezio Trilogy', as a direct sequel to 2009's Assassin's Creed II. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a 2010 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft.
