Ubisoft has officially announced that its Assassin’s Creed game franchise will be taking a break in 2016, the first since the launch of Assassin’s Creed II in 2009. The most recent title in the series, Syndicate, was released in October 2015 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
In an Ubiblog post, the Assassin’s Creed team said that they needed time to reexamine the series, and build off customer feedback:
This year, we also 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. 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.
It was first reported last month that the series would be taking a break this year. The same report claims that the series is set to return in 2017 with a game set in ancient Egypt, currently codenamed Empire.
Another of Ubisoft’s open-world franchises, Watch Dogs, is rumored to be getting a sequel in 2016, which would fill the void that Assassin’s Creed has left in Ubisoft’s release schedule.
