Assassin's Creed May Not Have Yearly Releases When It Returns, Ubisoft Says

Honest question, why did it take them over 7 years to realize a year off every now and then might actually be GOOD for the series, for sales, and for their bottom line...? Ubisoft has their fingers in so many projects I'm sure they're losing sales on smaller projects by pushing out AC and FC every year, and the quality of AC in particular has been declining steadily over the years. It doesn't need to turn into an annualized, rushed POS, get it together and actually build on the franchise instead of tossing in a new gimmick or two with each half assed, buggy release.

AC has all the markings of a legendary IP, but they've never really brought it as far as it could be, AC2 is probably still their best effort.

Don't return it if you still haven't change the gameplay mechanics: get rid of the clunky movement controls and outsource the combat system to a japanese developer (Capcom or Platinum, as most west developers suck in developing proper melee combat). Give us a plot that is actually interesting with characters you actually give a f*** with (or outsource the story to Bioware Studios / Obsidian Entertainment). Get rid of the repetitive mission design and pointless collectibles and give us a non-restricted, dynamic open-world with meaningful side-quests (or outsource the open world mechanics to R*/ Bethesda/ CDPR).

As a matter of fact, give me an AC game not made by Ubisoft.

As much as I am burnt out with the Assassins Creed franchise and annoyed with their execution when it comes to releasing games of late, Ubisoft is still a game development studio that takes risks and always tries to bring something new and fresh to the table.I just hope that they learnt from their lessons of poor execution and return to what they really capable of.

Basically yes...they're going to keep milking it lol That poor cow is bleeding from the nips right now so they want to give it a break for a year, but after that its right back to tugging xD

so pretty much theyre doing wat Actvision is doing with their CoD series & giving the devs more time to work on the game instead of rushing it but watch them secretly just go back to year release

maybe they're secretly plan for.... MONTHLY RELEASE!!!

Good. The series really needs a break, for the storyline's sake.

Im glad Ubisoft decided on taking a year off the AC franchise cause it really needed a break. On the other hand, I wonder why they feel the need to keep making them rather than putting effort into a new IP. Guess its easier to fire out sequels.

After III/IV they were saying that they will just forget about the underlying plot and make games because the reception is good and they have lots of material to work with, around that point things started to go wrong. Now they say they will rethink.

Sounds just like Saw and other disasters. They come up with a nice idea but then they think they have something with unlimited possibilities and then they need to take cover in bunkers when it all hits the fan. I wonder what they will do because it doesn't seem like there is right answer. But sales have been good anyway so I don't think they worry so much.

It's hard because when I think about my game ideas they have clean ends. I can't imagine just making infinite spinoffs and squeezing new made-up sequels before the ending.

hopefully they use this mindset with some of their other series as well

That is a smart move the annual cycle kills the game even call of duty sales are declining its no longer growing.

that sux... i enjoyed my yearly dose of AC

I think is time to finalize the story.

Take your garbage franchise and get out, Ubi. Ass Creed is atrocious.

Wonderful news! Take your time, Ubisoft. I enjoy the AC games but even as a die-hard fan, the yearly release cycle is definitely damaging the franchise. Syndicate definitely put the series back on track after Unity.

Good, I think a break is necessary. This will give me time to finish Syndicate and then go back to Unity and tackle some of the side quests.

Again like I said when they announced they were taking a year off. I am happy about this and it gives me hope for future Ubisoft franchises but it's far to late for Assassin's Creed in my opinion. While I loved the series initially it's just been done to death and while I hope this leads to better games for those who do still like the series I simply have no desire to continue with it.

*Frantically stares at CoD franchise*

Games companies might finally be starting to learn the meaning of 'franchise fatigue'

Call of Duty anyone?

"Hey guys! Rushing out these broken, unfinished, buggy games isn't working! Think we should reconsider?"

Should just rethink the entire franchise at this stage.

The problem with yearly releases is that yes we get sick of them but it also stretches the material it actually has into something that doesn't even resemble what it used to be.

Frankly unless something SIGNIFICANT changes for the franchise in general, better combat, revamp the story, make good on the present day missions then I doubt I'll come back no matter how often they are released.

I wouldn't mind a total reboot at this stage because I'm just that sick of Assassin's Creed. The thing is I don't think even five years off will fix that.

That's a great idea.

I'm an AC fan but I'm happy with this - the series could do with a re-working. Syndicate is actually much better than I thought it would be so that'll keep me going for a while.

Hope they don't bin it completely though...

It only took you 7 years to realize this didn't need to be an annual release.