No new Assassin’s Creed game in 2016, Ubisoft confirms

Previous rumors suggested Ubisoft would be skipping out on an Assassin’s Creed release this year, and now it has been confirmed by the company itself.

Ahead of its financial call this afternoon, Ubisoft said they will not be releasing a new Assassin’s Creed game in 2016 as they are “stepping back and re-examining” the action-adventure franchise.

“As a result, we’ve decided that there will not be a new Assassin’s Creed game in 2016. Since the release of Assassin’s Creed Unity, we’ve learned a lot based on your feedback,” Ubisoft said, adding, “We’ve also updated our development processes and recommitted to making Assassin’s Creed a premier open-world franchise.”

Earlier rumors suggested a “complete revamp” of the series in 2017’s allaged Assassin’s Creed: Empire, and it sounds like there may be some truth to that. Ubisoft said they are taking this year “to evolve the game mechanics and to make sure we’re delivering on the promise of Assassin’s Creed offering unique and memorable gameplay experiences that make history everyone’s playground.”

“We’ll have more to share on all of the above soon. In the meantime, we want to say thank you to our millions of fans around the world for your continued support,” the developer added.

Assassin’s Creed has been a yearly staple in Ubisoft’s catalog of blockbuster franchises, so it’ll be interesting to see the reaction of not getting a new one this year. Though the game has a dedicated and loyal following, the general consensus has been that the series has suffered from franchise fatigue, in addition to game-breaking bugs.

Although Syndicate has been well-received by fans, Ubisoft executives previously speculated its sales may have been negatively impacted by the disappointment of Unity. In the company’s financial release, it was noted that Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s launch was “slower than expected,” but attributed its lackluster performance to releasing in an “exceptionally fierce competitive environment.” Ubisoft did say, however, that the game’s quality was “lauded by the franchise’s fans,” and had a “marked rise” in player engagement compared to the prior installment.

It looks like fans will have to get their Assassin’s Creed fix this year through the upcoming movie, due out December 21, 2016.