'New Assassin's Creed era' planned for fiscal 2014

A new Assassin's Creed era will begin in fiscal year 2014, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot announced today. The brief statement delivered along with the company's third quarter performance revealed only that the game will feature a new hero and time period, and is being developed by a new team.

Back to our current era, no conveniently placed bale of hay was safe from the commercial success of Assassin's Creed III. Ubisoft revealed that the latest in its historical open-world series shipped and digitally sold more than 12 million units, a nearly 70 percent jump from Assassin's Creed Revelations.

Far Cry 3, which was also developed by Ubisoft's heavyweight Montreal studio, enjoyed a strong first month with more than 4.5 million units shipped and digitally distributed after its launch in late November and early December. Ubisoft's third quarter ended on December 31, 2012.

"Fans will certainly not have to wait four more years for the next [Far Cry]," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in a conference call, referring to the gap between the second and third games.

Ubisoft made no mention of its other holiday shooter release, ZombiU. The publisher launched seven games for the console within weeks of its launch, though Wii U only accounted for 4 percent of its third quarter sales, compared to 37 percent from Xbox 360 and 33 percent from PlayStation 3.

The Just Dance series' powerful rise among casual gamers may have finally peaked, with 16 percent less titles shipped for Just Dance 4 than last year's iteration. Digital performance grew almost two-and-a-half times over last year, however, aided by iOS hit Rayman Jungle Run.

Overall, the company's third-quarter sales rose 19.2 percent at constant exchange rates from €652 million in 2011 to €802 in 2012.