Next Assassin's Creed Game: Release Date, Story, Setting, & Everything Else We Know

Assassin's Creed Empire Release Date

The next Assassin's Creed game has yet to receive a release date. The game was expected in 2017, but that is no longer a certainty.

According to an interview Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot gave to Gamespot, Ubisoft is preparing for a future that might not include annual sequels to the Assassin's Creed franchise.

"What we saw in the development of the next (Assassin's Creed) was that we had an opportunity to take it to another level," said Guillemot. "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.'"

We knew that 2016 was not going to bring us a new Assasin's Creed game, but now, Guillemot is claiming that we may not get a new Assassin's Creed game in 2017 either. As for when franchise fans can expect a follow-up, Guillemot is currently differing to the "It will be back when it's ready" line. 

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This news comes in the wake of Ubisoft editorial VP Tommy Francois' recent statements to IGN in which he said that Ubisoft believes the alpha stage for the next Far Cry and Assasin's Creed games "needs to be one year before release." Somewhat colorfully, he also added that "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."

Francois defined alpha as the period in which the developers are working on the game, but not publically showcasing it. 

Earlier this year, Ubisoft confirmed that it had indeed delayed the next Assassin's Creedto 2017, effectively breaking the chain of yearly installments that the company implemented back in 2010. The publisher said in a blog post:

This year, we also are stepping back and re-examining the Assassin’s Creed 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. We’ve also updated our development processes and recommitted to making Assassin’s Creed a premier open-world franchise. We’re 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.

This could be a good thing for the franchise, which has suffered a bad case of fatigue since the release of the terribly flawed Assassin's Creed Unity in 2014. A deep breath and some work on the next game's mechanics and story could do this franchise a lot of good when it returns in the next year or two. 

Assassin's Creed Empire Story & Setting

A report from Kotaku suggests that the next Assassin's Creed game is codenamed "Empire." 

"Empire" reportedly takes place in Egypt and is the first chapter in a trilogy of games about the same Assassin, which is not unlike the trilogy starring Ezio Auditore from 2009-2011. (Those were the golden days, in my humble opinion.) This new trilogy could also explore Greece and Rome around the same time period, according to Kotaku. 

Kotaku also revealed that the decision to move "Empire" from Fall 2016 to 2017 was made after the Unitydebacle, which finally showed the deep wrinkles in the series after years jam-packed with new ACgames. In case you don't remember, Unity was Ubisoft's first current-gen Assassin's Creed game and it was a broken mess. My guess is that Syndicate's sales were directly affected by its predecessor's failures, which is unfortunate since the latest game is pretty good...

But more of the same has to become a hard sell at some point when pitched on a yearly basis. It looks like franchise fatigue has finally hit Assassin's Creed. 

More on this as we learn it!