Next Assassin's Creed won't be set in Japan

Assassin's Creed 5, or whatever Ubisoft ends up calling the next Assassin's Creed title, will not be set in Japan. Ubisoft Toronto boss Jade Raymond made the revelation in a new AdWeek profile. She did, however, say that an Assassin's Creed title set in the samurai age of Japan would be an interesting idea all the same.

If not feudal Japan, then during which time period will this year's Assassin's Creed game be set? Raymond is keeping that to herself for now, but she teased that the game's setting is her favorite historical era. Ubisoft has yet to formally announce 2014's Assassin's Creed title, though the franchise has seen a new release in the core series every year since 2009.

The Assassin's Creed series has been able to jump to different time periods thanks to the Animus. The fictional virtual reality machine from the Assassin's Creed franchise has virtually transported players to destinations like the Renaissance (Assassin's Creed II), the American Revolution (Assassin's Creed III), and the Golden Age of Piracy (Assassin's Creed IV).

The most requested Assassin's Creed settings, according to Ubisoft, are World War II, feudal Japan, and Ancient Egypt. The publisher is also reportedly interested in a future entry set during the British Raj (colonial India), the setting of new comic Assassin's Creed: Brahman.

A report from December claimed that Ubisoft is planning to release two Assassin's Creed titles in 2014, one of which will come to Xbox 360/PlayStation 3, while the other would launch for Xbox One/PlayStation 4. It's not clear where Wii U or PC fit into that mix. That report also suggested that the Assassin's Creed franchise itself is undergoing a "massive re-scope."

Though Ubisoft has not formally commented on the follow-up to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, lead designer of that game Jean-Sebastien Decant said in November that the next games in the series will be "much more next-gen." Black Flag, the first entry in the series for the Xbox One and PS4, was "on the edge" because when Ubisoft started development, it had no idea what the system specifications for those platforms would be, Decant said.

Also in that November 2013 interview, Decant teased that the next entry in the Assassin's Creed series may introduce the next evolution of social features.

"I think we're going toward a gaming place where the open world will be shared with other players," he said. "More and more. Socially speaking, but also maybe multiplayer stuff. And we will have to consider the open-world much more like a platform that we could sustain for years."

Where would you like to see the Assassin's Creed franchise travel to next? Let us know in the comments below.