No new Assassin's Creed for 2016; Ubisoft "re-examining" franchise
Ahead of Ubisoft's financial call this afternoon the company announced it won't release an Assassin's Creed game in 2016.
The announcement confirmed a report from January which stated such. The report also purported an Egyptian setting for the next entry.
Here's official word:
"This year, we also are stepping back and re-examining the Assassin’s Creed franchise. As a result, we’ve decided that there will not be a new Assassin’s Creed game in 2016. Since the release of Assassin’s Creed Unity, we’ve learned a lot based on your feedback.
"We’ve also updated our development processes and recommitted to making Assassin’s Creed a premier open-world franchise. We’re taking this year to evolve the game mechanics and to make sure we’re delivering on the promise of Assassin’s Creed offering unique and memorable gameplay experiences that make history everyone’s playground.
"We’ll have more to share on all of the above soon. In the meantime, we want to say thank you to our millions of fans around the world for your continued support."
In the firm's financial release, company co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot said the firm was looking to give the Assassin's Creed brand a "a new dimension."
It was also noted the Assassin's Creed Syndicate launch was "slower than expected" due to releasing in an "exceptionally fierce competitive environment."
Ubisoft said the game's quality was "lauded by the franchise's fans," and had a "marked rise" in player engagement compared with the prior title, Assassin's Creed Unity. Despite the slow launch sales, Syndicate also sold better than Unity.
Assassin's Creed releases will vary, depending on what the firm has on the schedule or what's feasible. According to the call to investors, the firm could release one every other year, annually, or create an entirely different schedule.
The firm is still committed to the franchise, but it wouldn't comment on when the next title in the series would be released.
The company also said the purpose with the new film starring Michael Fassbender was to grow the Assassin's Creed audience and there was never a plan to release a game linked to the subject of the movie.