And it's official. Just like that, what we kind of already knew has been confirmed by Ubisoft. There will be no Assassin's Creed game this year. This lines up with previous reported rumours that the franchise would be taking a year off and the next Creed title would be set in Ancient Egypt.
A post on the UbiBlog says "This year, we 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."
The problems of Unity clearly had massive repercussions and despite the frankly excellent Assassin's Creed Syndicate, it seems like a wise move to stop the yearly cycle. "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," continues the blog post.
While we still don't officially know where the 2017 release will be set, there was clearly fact behind the delay rumours so we may indeed be heading to Ancient Egypt. Evolution of game mechanics is exactly what I covered in my thoughts on the way Assassin's Creed would have to change for an Egyptian setting. I wouldn't bet on rumoured title Empire sticking around though. When Victorian London was leaked, so was the title Victory and that disappeared as fast as food in front of Oliver Twist.
The post also says how excited the team is about the Michael Fassbender-starring Assassin's Creed movie coming out in December this year. "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 honour 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." Well at least we'll be getting some hooded stabbing this year.
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