Assassin’s Creed III wrapped up the story of Desmond, but Ubisoft is far from done with the franchise . In fact, the developer says the next game will be out within a year – and it will be going in a different direction from its predecessor.
In an earnings call late last week, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that the next Assassin’s Creed game is already under development, and will be out sometime before April 2014. Interestingly, Guillemot also confirmed that the next game in the franchise will not be starring Connor, and will take place in a new time period.
“We are delighted and proud to announce today that in FY14 14, we will introduce an all-new Assassin’s Creed hero, within an all new team and time period,” Guillemot said. “We expect it to be another major leap forward for the franchise.”
The news comes as no surprise given that Ubisoft has already promised that Assassin’s Creed will continue to live on for years to come. It is somewhat of a surprise, however, that Ubisoft won’t be revisiting the character of Connor from Assassin’s Creed III .
Assassin’s Creed II protagonist Ezio was well-received by fans and critics alike, and the character returned for two more core games: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations .
Connor, on the other hand, wasn’t quite so popular with gamers – Connor was, by contrast to Ezio, much more reserved, and perhaps quite a bit more naive. In the character’s defense, Ubisoft had less time to spend telling the character’s story.
So what’s in store for Assassin’s Creed moving forward? The developer hasn’t given any hints, unfortunately, but we do know that it may not necessarily be moving forward in history.
Platforms are also an uncertainty at this point. With the talk in the industry pointing at a holiday 2013 release for one or more of the next-generation consoles, it’s possible that Assassin’s Creed IV , or whatever Ubisoft decides to name it, may arrive in time to launch on those platforms.