It looks like Assassin’s Creed 3 really will be the last we see of Desmond Miles

It looks like when it's all said and done, Assassin's Creed 3 will be the final game for series protagonist Desmond Miles. For months now, Ubisoft has been hinting at the idea of concluding Miles' story, which has now spanned through four previous Assassin's Creed games, but in an interview with OXM, lead designer Steve Masters add some finality to the speculation.

"What we're trying to do is bring some finality to Desmond's story," Masters said. "To actually wrap up what you've opened and experienced with him. So we're trying to make it a little bit more direct with the storyline, but at the same time there are still going to be plenty of little mysterious bits for you to dig into, especially in the side stuff."

At the end of the day, Ubisoft's apparent decision to conclude Desmond's storyline has much to do with the fact of progressing the story and to avoid frustrating players with more "meandering".

"We wanted there to be a big leap forward in the story," Masters explained. "And we wanted you to feel a good sense of progress in what's going on in the story. A lot of misdirection and the way we've been meandering a little bit has been kind of frustrating as a player and for the audience, so we wanted to make sure there was going to be more substance to get your teeth into."

While Desmond's story is likely to conclude, Assassin's Creed 3 will hardly be the last for the hugely popular franchise. Ubisoft has already made it perfectly clear they want to annualize the franchise. But how will Assassin's Creed be without Desmond? The series has already made a tremendous leap by heading into the American Revolution, introducing an entirely new setting, time period, and protagonist in Connor. In fact, Assassin's Creed 3 introduces so many new elements that even creative director Alex Hutchinson admitted it's practically like a new IP, with Desmond Miles being the real only link to the past games.

So that begs the question, do you think Assassin's Creed can succeed without Desmond Miles?