Ubisoft has issued a press release regarding its targets for this fiscal year, revealing that the company plans to release Watch Dogs 2 but likely won’t be releasing a new Assassin’s Creed game.
The excerpt of the statement pertaining to Ubisoft’s 2016-17 line-up reads:
“In 2016-17 the Company expects to achieve sales of around €1,700 million, non-IFRS operating income of approximately €230 million and strong free cash flow generation. Ubisoft will launch a very high-quality line-up, including For Honor, South Park the Fractured but Whole, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon WildLands, the next instalment of Watchdogs, and a new high-potential AAA brand with strong digital live services. Growth also will be driven by further increases in revenues for the digital segment and the back catalog.”
In a separate blog post, Ubisoft also confirmed that they would be “stepping back and re-examining” the Assassin’s Creed series. The post reads:
“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.”
It had been rumored that Ubisoft would be looking to move away from annual releases of Assassin’s Creed games after the past two entries in the series received a middling reception, though this is the first time Ubisoft has confirmed that this is the case.
This is also the first time Ubisoft has announced a Watch Dogs sequel, and though it was expected that one would be in the way, it wasn’t certain whether it would be arriving during this financial year.
