A Montreal-made video game may provide some comfort for those longing to revisit every inch of the fire-gutted Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Some have speculated the 2014 game "Assassin's Creed Unity" by Ubisoft could help to guide the reconstruction of the 12th century cathedral because of its realistic digital depiction of the famous landmark.
Artists and historians spent 14 months combing through photos, videos, and architectural plans to create the digital model.
Ubisoft historian Maxime Durand says he doesn't believe the digital plans will be needed by architects to rebuild the cathedral.
But he says if the game boosts support for the renovation by reminding people of the structure's beauty or allows people to virtually visit the cathedral while repairs being done, that will be its contribution.
Ubisoft did not respond to a question today about whether it had offered its digital plans to aid the rebuilding effort.
But the French game-maker is donating just over 750-thousand dollars to the reconstruction effort and will allow people to download its Unity game for free on P-C for one week.
