Though Assassin’s Creed has long been an annualized series, Ubisoft has confirmed the rumors that there will be no mainline entry arriving this fall.
In a post on the publisher’s blog, Ubisoft stated they 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.”
Explaining the decision, “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.”
Rumors that Ubisoft might be taking the year off from the franchise surfaced early last month. The same leaked reports also hinted that the next game, coming in 2017, will be called Empire, and will take place in Egypt.
While announcing the news today, Ubisoft took the chance to remind fans that 2016 is still a big year for the franchise. December 21st will see the release of the Assassin’s Creed film, staring Michael Fassbender. “Having already visited the set, we can’t begin to describe how surreal and exciting it is to walk the real-world halls of Abstergo, or see the intricate replicas of Assassin weaponry. We have an outstanding cast and crew that want to honor the rich lore of Assassin’s Creed and bring a fresh perspective to the ongoing battle between Assassins and Templars that’s fit for the big screen.”
This week also saw the release of the third and final entry in the side-scrolling Assassin’s Creed Chronicles series, ACC: Russia. In our review, we loved the early twentieth century setting and how fresh it felt, but found some parts of the game far too difficult to be fun. “If you’re able to look past those faults however, there is a satisfying stealth puzzler buried beneath.”
What do you think of the Assassins and the Templars taking the year off? Let us know in the comments.