The next Assassin’s Creed title not only bucks the trend of annual releases for the historically influenced series, but may set a precedent for future release cycles within the franchise.
In response to a question posed by an attendee at Ubisoft’s Investor Day presentation, Chairman and CEO of Ubisoft , Yves Guillemot confirmed that “The goal is not automatically to come back on annual cycle but to come back on a regular basis.”
This news comes hot off the heels of Ubisoft’s news on February 11th that it would be “. . . stepping back and re-examining the Assassin’s Creed franchise.” In response to this new outlook, it would seem that longer development cycles are seriously being considered for the next Assassin’s Creed release and beyond.
“We have focused one of our best teams behind what we are working on Assassin’s Creed. We have given them all the time for releasing something that we hope to be exceptional. We are setting up rules so that they will have enough tie to polish the game and come with something really exceptional, is this is what we have for our first priority,” chief financial officer Alain Martinez added to the annualization conversation during Ubisoft’s presentation.
However, according to Martinez, there is still the potential for future titles to release only a year apart from each other, so long as Ubisoft’s development team can do so while meeting the aforementioned expectations.
“. . . If we feel like we are in the right direction and that we can continue the path and we have enough innovation for the next one, we might come with the next one in the next year. But it’s no longer something that will be set up every year.”
No matter the release cycles for future Assassin’s Creed titles, most fans would likely agree that a breather from the previously annualized game is in order, and a re-assessment of the franchise could provide the rejuvenation the franchise needs. For now Ubisoft fans have Far Cry Primal and Tom Clancy’s The Division to look forward to.
Source: Gamespot