Is ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Dead? Lukewarm Reception For ‘Syndicate’ May Have Killed The Series

Is Assassin’s Creed dead? When Ubisoft released Syndicate this year, the reception wasn’t impressive.

Compare this to the incredible anticipation of Black Flag‘s next-gen sequel Unity and Ubisoft may be thinking twice about making any more of their biggest non-Tom Clancy flagship series. Gamers may be getting tired of climbing big towers or trees to synchronize, sneaking up and stabbing targets, and generally waiting for the right moment over and over.

Many gamers have called the series boring and repetitive, and after Ubisoft’s attempt at giving us a more involving experience this year, they might not see any money in continuing the franchise.

The blame could lie with the decision to base it in London during the industrial revolution, not a period that most people consider interesting. Many of us wanted it set in feudal Japan, an era where stealth and blades would have fit right into the story of the persecuted ninja and their Samurai oppressors.

Instead, Ubisoft may have left Assassin’s Creed dead by instead giving us a glitch-filled romp through France, a location which until recently didn’t even sound interesting to anyone but Ubisoft and perhaps the French. A similar factor lies behind a title they had been working on for 2018. It was set to be based in the U.S. Civil War, but after the disappointment of Assassin’s Creed III‘s setting of the American Revolution and the possibility of too much backlash over the use of the Confederate flag, according to Gaming Free Press, the game was canceled indefinitely before it was ever announced.

In the early days of 2007, we were hit with the surprisingly different Assassin’s Creed, dead set on giving us the story of deposed agent Altair. He had been tasked with recovering his rank in the clan in the medieval Middle East, only to face an unexpected adversary by the end.

Knowing they’d hit on something interesting, Ubisoft then sent us to Renaissance Italy in the shoes of the plucky and troublesome Ezio Auditore, says Forbes. They had a hit and gave us two follow-ups about the character. Three years later, we received what many consider one of the worst games in the series, following Native American Connor and his father through a period which could have been much more interesting. Sadly, the interesting characters were all minor, while Connor took center stage with next to no likability.

Assassin’s Creed needs to just start over from scratch https://t.co/7Lhs30mIL3

— WIRED (@WIRED) November 10, 2015

After Black Flag brought the public back slowly, as previously reported by the Inquisitr, Unity once again left us feeling like Ubisoft wasn’t even trying anymore. With a performance like this, it would be no surprise if Assassin’s Creed is officially dead after a much better game like Syndicate launched with yet more indifference.

It could also have something to do with the fact that Ubisoft put ideas into the latest game, which felt like they were “borrowed” from games we found more interesting. The zip-line and grappling hook reminded us too much of the Batman: Arkham series, while the mechanic of stealing carriages and racing them through London reminded us too much of Grand Theft Auto.

Assassin’s Creed might not be dead, but we haven’t heard any news from Ubisoft about what their next game will be, or if there will even be another one. Perhaps they’re waiting for Syndicate to sell more and reach Black Flag levels of profit? While Black Flag gave us naval combat, which was actually useful and fun, Syndicate didn’t give us much of anything actually new except for a playable female protagonist.

It’s going to take more than a pair of wisecracking siblings and gameplay mechanics from other major titles to make the public fall in love with the franchise once more.

What do you think? Is Assassin’s Creed dead, or is Ubisoft just not announcing anything new yet?

[Feature image via Ubisoft]