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Ubisoft Says No New Assassin’s Creed in 2011

When Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood releases on November 16, it’ll have been almost exactly a year after the release of Assassin’s Creed 2. But don’t expect yearly sequels to become the norm for the series: Speaking to Eurogamer, Ubisoft Montreal’s Jean-Francois Boivin said they already intend to give the series a year off, as there won’t be a new Assassin’s Creed in 2011.
"Honestly, I think for the benefit of everybody -- and business can come back and override everything I say because at the end of the day it’s about selling games -- I believe that this license needs a breather," Boivin explained. "You can’t plough a field every year. Once every three years -- or once every something -- you have to let it breathe. You have to let the minerals back in. I think it’s the same thing with any license, really."

Boivin pointed to other franchises infamous for yearly sequels as evidence that it tends to diminish excitement for a series. "We can see a lot of the music games that are releasing year after year -- the interest is a lot less than it used to be," Boivin said. "The excitement is a lot less than it used to be. You want to keep people excited. You gotta make people miss it a bit."

As for exactly how long this "breather" will last, Boivin said he’s unsure but it’ll come down to "business people" putting a release date on the next game, and "creative people" saying "we need this much time to do something new and refreshing, just scope wise." And that could mean a year off, or perhaps more.

"If we skip a year, I think we’re good. But yeah, I think we could do something really true to the license if we skip a year and release it in 2012 or 2013," Boivin said.