Ubisoft confirms there won’t be a new Assassin’s Creed game this year

But still plenty of Assassin’s Creed

Kotaku was right. There won’t be a new main entry in the Assassin’s Creed series this year. Ubisoft is giving its flagship franchise a short breather, the publisher announced today.

In a post on UbiBlog, Ubisoft confirms the news in time for its most recent investors’ report. “There will not be a new Assassin’s Creed game in 2016,” it reads. “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 break marks the first time the series has more than a year-long gap between main installments since the releases of the original Assassin’s Creed and Assassin’s Creed II in 2007 and 2009, respectively. But, just because there’s no large-scale game this year doesn’t mean there’s no Assassin’s Creed.

Ubisoft has already released two Assassin’s Creed Chronicles titles this year, there’s a mobile game getting a widespread launch later in February, and there’s a movie coming in late December. And, there’s still the remaining rumor that Ubisoft will release some sort of Assassin’s Creed collection in the near future. If there was ever a year in which Ubisoft doesn’t need a triple-A game to keep the series’ brand recognition up, it’s 2016.

Besides all that, what’s next for Assassin’s Creed? If Kotaku’s report is to be believed, the next game will be set in Egypt. Kotaku has an awfully good track record when it comes to getting scoops about Ubisoft, so there’s a decent chance that’s true. But, Ubisoft will confirm things when it’s ready, probably about a year from now if it’s sticking to holiday releases.

A Message from the Assassin’s Creed Team [Ubisoft]