Ubisoft swore off releasing a new Assassin’s Creed game for 2016, the first time the series has been on hiatus since its debut in 2009. If Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is to be believed, we might not see a new entry in 2017, either.
Guillemot sat down with GameSpot and discussed the future. He’s preaching patience, giving the impression that the French publisher is focusing on releasing a quality product.
“What we saw in the development of the next [Assassin’s Creed game] was that we had an opportunity to take it to another level,” Guillemot said. “So we said we’ll take all the time it takes to make the experience fantastic. It was feasible because we have other games. There’s a huge potential in this game to revolutionise the IP, so we said, ‘Let’s make sure we change our model so we have more time and that we can bring back a greater experience.’
“It will be back when it’s ready. That’s when we feel we have something there.”
Ubisoft editorial vice-president Tommy Francois spoke to IGN and sang the same tune. His language was a bit salty, but he also provided some more detail about Ubisoft’s line of thinking.
“We believe Alpha for these games needs to be one year before release,” Francois said. “We’re trying to achieve that. That’s super f***ing blunt, I don’t even know if I’m allowed to say this. This is the goal we’re going for: Alpha one year before, more quality, more polish. So if this means biting the [bullet] and not having an Assassin’s game or a Far Cry [in 2017], f*** it.”
When he refers to Alpha, he’s not talking about a public demo like For Honor. This is a more deliberate Alpha for in-house testing and polish.
“Alpha is just saying getting stuff done, but leaving time for polish and innovation. I mean it from that perspective. We still need to have an Alpha, and we need it available as early as we possibly can, because the more time we have for this the more polish we have, the more time we can change, refine, swap systems. You just can’t take shortcuts.”
There were rumors prior to the interviews that Assassin’s Creed would release in 2017. The rumors also say the game has a title, “Empire”, set in ancient Egypt.
