Assassin’s Creed fans, don’t panic, but for the first time since 2009, we may not have a new game to play this year, with Ubisoft reportedly opting to skip 2016 entirely, and launch the next major instalment in the series in 2017.
A rumour that originated on 4Chan, and was backed up today by an anonymous source on Kotaku, indicates that this delayed release is an attempt to arrest the “franchise fatigue” that has taken hold in the series.
This decision is reportedly a response to 2014’s French Revolution-era Unity, whose various bugs and glitches negatively impacted on the sales of 2015’s vastly better and more well-received Syndicate.
Per Kotaku’s source, Assassin’s Creed may move to bi-annual releases from here on out, to “allow the development team more room to improve and polish the game” – translation, before the cash cow is milked totally dry.
While we may have to wait longer than normal for the next major instalment, various sources indicted to Kotaku that the game will be called Assassin’s Creed: Empire, and will be set in ancient Egypt.
Rumours has it that this game is the first in a planned trilogy, featuring a new character, with future instalments to take place in Greece and Rome.
Ubisoft released a statement earlier today that clarified precisely nothing, saying only:
“We can’t comment on rumor or speculation. We’re always happy when players are excited about our games, past, present and future. In the meantime, we hope that the latest images from the Assassin’s Creed movie set will keep fans of the franchise happy and eager to find out more!”
While there may be no ‘big’ Assassin’s Creed on the horizon this year, there will still be plenty going on with the series.
Ubisoft have registered the domain assassinscreedcollection.com, indicating that a current-gen remake of the older games could well be on the way at some point in the near future.
If that’s happening, it will likely tie in to that aforementioned Michael Fassbender movie, which is due out this December (and will hopefully not be a gigantic pile of shit – please let it not be a gigantic pile of shit).
Story: Kotaku
Photo: Ubisoft
