Assassin’s Creed may not resume its annual release schedule when the franchise returns from its year break in 2017, Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot has suggested.
Speaking during Ubisoft’s recent Investor Day (via GameSpot), Guillemot reiterated that the multi-million selling series is being re-examined following the decision not to release a new instalment in 2016, outside of the spin-off Chronicles titles.
However, the executive also hinted that the pseudo historical action-adventure franchise may not return on an annual basis.
"The goal is not automatically to come back on annual cycle but to come on a regular basis," he said. "We saw it was time to give it lots of time so [developers] could really work on the property and all the mechanics to make sure we could take [the series] to another level.
"What we are seeing today is promising. We will be able to come on a regular basis [but] we can’t say every year.”
Despite Guillemot’s comments, Ubisoft’s Chief Financial Officer, Alain Martinez, suggested the series could end up being released on a yearly basis.
"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 time to polish the game and come with something really exceptional, so this is what we have for our first priority,” commented Martinez.
"Then after that, 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."
The latest rumors suggest that Ubisoft is aiming for an ancient Egyptian setting for the new Assassin’s Creed title, which will be the first game in a new trilogy. These reports have yet to be substantiated, however.