Ubisoft has refused to budge on mounting speculation indicating that the next instalment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise won’t see the light of day in 2011.
The firm’s senior international brand manager Eric Gallant labelled comments made by fellow Ubisoft employee Jean-Francois Boivin earlier this year – in which it was claimed the series would be taking a “breather” in 2011 – as “personal opinion” instead of outright fact.
However, Gallant didn’t confirm or deny whether or not we’d see a third instalment in the medieval stealth franchise next year, but made it clear that not everyone in the company is being kept in the loop in regards to the series’ future plans.
"That was personal opinion which we respect," he told CVG. "The details of everything related to the future of the [Assassin’s Creed] brand aren’t known by everyone. Unfortunately not everyone is in the loop.”
"There are a group of people making plans at a higher level of the organisation – they are the ones that make the decision about where we are going," added Gallant. "There are things we are working on but I can’t talk about it.”
"That was misleading information, it was more of an expression of personal opinion, or observation."
Pushed on whether or not we may see a new Assassin’s Creed next year, Gallant would only hint at possible “surprises,” in relation to the brand: "I can’t talk about next year or the following years," adding, "The only thing I can say is that it is our biggest franchise and we’re always thinking about new ways of keeping our fans excited and into the brand, so there could be surprises and announcement in the following months – I don’t know."
The latest outing the series, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, hits shops next month.