It was reported in January, and then in effect it was confirmed in February, that in spite of releases in the franchise coming every year since 2009, there will be no update for a new Assassin's Creed and the game would not come out in 2016.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said at that time that the long-term goal was not to "come back to an annual cycle, but to come back on a regular basis" when the series returned, which it was presumed would happen sometime in 2017. But Tommy Francois, Ubi's vice president of editorial, told IGN that it may take more than that to get things back on track.
"We believe alpha for these games needs to be one year before release. 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 [release], more quality, more polish," he said. "So if this means biting the [bullet] and not having an Assassin's game, or a Far Cry [in 2017], f**k it."
"I mean it from that standpoint. We still need to have an Alpha, and we need it accessible 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," he elaborated.
"No, Far Cry's only been going up in sales, so that's not true. We sometimes try to do too much - I'm actually super-happy. I know it's perceived like [a marketing decision], and even if it is [perceived that way], it's actually OK.
"People are allowed to perceive it like that, that it's a break in the brand and that we're doing it for that. I have no quarrels. I just want people to fall in love when people try the next iteration of one of these two brands."
Ubisoft, genuinely, has not rationed any official facts or particulars about the themes or settings for forthcoming Assassin's Creed or Far Cry games.
