Assassin's Creed will be annual until players say stop

Destructoid: Ubisoft Montreal's head honcho, Yannis Mallat, recently told Eurogamer at GDC that they have no intention of taking a breather, as he believes that fans are eager for more. "The players will tell us. Right now there are more and more coming into the franchise, so I don't see that day ... It's our breakthrough. When you have quality content, the frequency of coming out with the game is not an issue at all."

[Prodigy-X]

You can stop.

[Nimblest-Assassin]

What the hell are they talking about?

Almost everyone wants them to stop the yearly releases.It effects the quality of the overall games and feels stale.

But im guessing they are talking about "sales" and not actual opinions

sigh... they probably have AC5 and 6 in the works already

[nutcrackr]

Yeah sales, when they start dropping away they'll just call the franchise worn out and toss it aside for 10 years until the reboot it.

[yaz288]

"But im guessing they are talking about "sales" and not actual opinions"

what else is there? of course they are talking about the sales. when the game stop selling .. No more ac.

I hope they start working on ac6 from now,so then when they announce it in 2015. we can be exited again.

[Neixus]

In an interview they said the already started working on the next installment, don't remember where i found it, was on gamereactor i think.

[nukeitall]

"Almost everyone wants them to stop the yearly releases."

Everyone who?

From a sales standpoint, it is selling like hotcakes topping the charts every year. The biggest vouch of a product is the actual sale!

"It effects the quality of the overall games and feels stale."

To you, but many others do not feel that way. Keep in mind that the fans continue to buy it.

As long as it is quality content that sells, I see no reason for Ubisoft to stop.

Keep in mind that these games creates profit i.e. money that can go into creating new IPs like Watchdog which are expensive endeavors and carry a huge amount of risk.

[Commandar_Shepard]

Hopefully the sales will start to drop after the dissapointment AC3 was. It was hyped up to be one of the best games this generation, which caused many people to go out and buy it, but what we got instead was a buggy mess with a six hour tutorial and an incredibly awful modern day story.

[aCasualGamer]

Why should they stop?

The series gets better with every new release. As long as they continue making the games better and more compelling i'll keep enjoying them. It's not like you have to buy the game, but don't prevent others from enjoying the series. You always have a choice, don't like it then don't buy it. I loved the sea missions in AC3 and am really glad they're building on it in AC4.

[admiralvic]

A LOT (I mean a huge number) of people seem to forget that the online communities speak for a small minority out there. If sites like N4G was an accurate display of what the average consumer is thinking, CoD would be a less popular game or somewhat different, Vanquish would have hit GOTY (same with Bayonetta) and plenty of other flops would have done great and vice versa.

[rpd123]

Of course it's about sales. People buy it so they assume that people want it. If you don't like the yearly releases, then don't buy it. Vote with your dollar, that's how capitalism works.

And I might add that the vast majority of people who play Assassin's Creed have no problem with yearly releases. Most people here do, but N4G isn't exactly representative of the entire gaming population.

[Seraphim]

well my wallet says stop. I have no plans to pick up Black Flag. I absolutely loved the series but this annual BS and AC2 Trilogy has grown tiresome and boring and many other things... As a matter of fact I have yet to even crack AC3 because I simply have no interest. Had it not been for my stupid preorder w/ a steelbook case coming I'd have canceled my purchase before release. Disappointed was I when I got a standard size case & not a PS3 size one. Lol.... come to think of it last year I only played Revelations for a few hours before I was bored with playing yet another AC....

In any given year I probably complain about the lack of great action/adventure titles because those are what I love and predominately play. But the annual release of anything just kills everything about a great game/series. They had it right when waiting a year between AC and AC2 then suddenly like the Cash Cow it is they said giddy up and it's been downhill since.

[jrbeerman11]

i pretty much skipped the filler games in the series, buying ac1 ac2 and ac3. Not sure what ill do with black flag if its just AC3.2 yearly releases just dont work for me.

[Thatlalala]

cosigned

[Rainstorm81]

Hearing this makes me want to wait and see the improvements in next years AC instead of buying Black Flag.

I'm only buying AC titles at 30 or less , no need to buy day one the price will drop since there will be a new one next year, you could get AC3 fr 30 all throughout the holiday and probably find it now for that much.....Best way to go with yearly releases

[Mounce]

Players won't stop until the company and consumers drive the series to the ground.

I'd honestly hate to be a developer having to craft cities over and over and over so often. Rockstar at least are given time to polish a brand new city and make it alive. This? Give a team a handful of months to hack up a new town in a few months and leave it like stale bread.

[jhenri]

You do know they have multiple teams working on different AC games right? The same team isn't doing them all every year.

[ALLWRONG]

What does the red octagonal sign say?

[3-4-5]

I'm not buying the next one....I'll wait until next gen 2-3 years from now...

AC3 was ok but it also lost it's appeal to me with that game as well.

It's kind of weird but I don't even care about the AC series anymore.

They've had 5 games to impress me and I loved AC2 and that was about it.

[IMightBeRetarded]

Came here to say this after haha. I hate annual releases. Lower quality games, less fun, more money. Companies may like it but it will ruin the franchise. Look at guitar hero and call of duty will probably see the same thing within a few years.

[Root]

Yeah we want you to stop...look on the forums or something you can see we hate what you've done to AC

[rpd123]

Again, people on forums don't represent the gaming community as a whole at all. They're a vocal minority. Dollar votes are what counts, and people are still spending money every year on Assassin's Creed. If they had a problem, they wouldn't buy it, and AC3 wouldn't have sold millions of copies.

Every game they put out is quality, I don't see why people have a problem with yearly releases of good games. If they don't want to play them, then fine, but don't stop making games because a vocal minority wants you to.

[SpaceFox]

You're absolutely right. DICE developers have said so themselves and it's the reason Battlefield 3 went the direction it did. The forums expressed their disapproval constantly but the sales said it all.

[Lucreto]

People will have to stop buying the games i they want change.

AC3 sold 14 million so they won't stop.

[Neo Nugget]

Yep. People saying "stop" here and on the forums should really just stop paying attention to the series, imo. Plenty of people still enjoy it a great deal, so simply stopping just because it's being released every year is a bit silly. Despite the vocal minority's opinion, the games are really quite good.

Once Assassin's Creed starts getting 4-6/10 scores from reviewers across the board, then you have my permission to say "stop".

[Nimblest-Assassin]

The vocal minority?

The people who are telling it to stop are fans who have been playing AC since the first one. (Ignore the jaded who never played the games, or think they are overrated)

AC is so unique, that it deserves time and care for these games to be crafted.

Simply put, the yearly releases prevent AC from reaching its true potential.

I don't want them to kill AC, but just slow the releases down. Maybe a new game every 2-3 years.

Not annually.

With so many games coming out this year and new consoles, I really don't care much for AC4, and thats disappointing for me.

[SAE]

I bought all AC games and i want them to stop making it every year and try to make the gameplay more challenging. I will buy the next AC because i like the story ..

[RmanX1000]

Assassin's Creed doesnt need CoD syndrome... AC is actually good.

[NastyLeftHook0]

yup.

[Moncole]

And there are people who say CoD is good.

[sourav93]

Aww come on! CoD is the best thing to come into our lives ever since sliced bread!!!1!!1!one!1!1!!

/s

[TheGrimOfDeath]

COD is good to release some stress and have fun, I just play some zombies on easy difficulty to have fun.

But yes that will never compare to the story of Mass Effect or Metal Gear Solid kind of fun.

Just my say guys. You can disagree if you want.

[Zodiac]

Stop.

[chukamachine]

Over hyped game imo, best was the original for me, because it was new.

They may have tweaked the graphics and action, but not much else has changed. Characters are crap.

[Conzul]

I agree.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to play a game like ACIV - I just wish it wasn't an AC game. I wish it was its own piratey game without the silly AC backstory and whatnot.

[Robochobo]

Ubisoft... What are you doin?... Ubisoft... Stahp

[knifefight]

Big money big money no whammy no whammyyyyyyy STOP!

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

Stop. Please.

[Neo Nugget]

Are you guys being held at gun-point by Ubisoft to buy these games?

...because good lord, it really seems like it.

[theDECAY]

Lighten up, man.

[beakeroo1]

STOP!

[rezzah]

The story is all i care about.

[Cam977]

SSTAAAAHP! STAAAAHHHHPPPPPPPPP!

[nutcrackr]

stop

[Zizi]

I think the story and gameplay are getting boring. We need something 'fresh from the oven' on AC series.

And in my opinion, they should release AC, like every two or three years.

I hope the latest Tomb Raider developer, Crystal Dynamics, does not get CoD syndrome by milking the game over and over again. Phuhh...

[ChipChipperson]

When Brotherhood and Revelations came out, everyone should have known that was the start of what Ubisoft was doing.

[Zizi]

Actually, I enjoyed the original AC, ACII, and Brotherhood. However, I found it difficult to like Revelations. I think the gameplay is getting dull and silly. They just added some mini games and some missions that were not fresh at all.

[ChipChipperson]

I'm definitely not trying to fault anyone for liking the games. If you enjoyed any of the AC games that's great. I was simply just pointing out that Brotherhood and Revelations were a red flag to how Ubisoft were trying or going to start releasing the games pretty frequently. I agree though, gameplay is getting dull with certain things. They've been able to make great fluid full on combat with sword fights, naval battles, etc. But, when it comes to the stealth portions, it just doesn't hold up to other games that have better stealth mechanics.

[bluetoto]

It's an action game so forgive it for doing what it sets out to do. Would I like better stealth options, huh yeah, but to knock a game because it plays as intended is asinine.

[ChipChipperson]

This game is always advertised as being this great stealth game. It's asinine to criticize a portion of the gameplay because it doesn't live up to what it's advertised to be and can't compare to it's other gameplay mechanics? Dude, if you love the game for its action, then that's great, but, to say it's asinine to knock a game because it plays as intended is childish because by that statement apparently people can't criticize things that the game executes poorly. I knocked it for having poor stealth mechanics, not for having great fluid action, which according to you, is what the game sets out to do. Besides, I loved AC3. It impressed me more with its sword play, but the stealth mechanics sucked and were poorly implemented.

[bluetoto]

Find me one link where ubisoft says it is a stealth game. Just one. It's fine to be disappointed with what you assumed the gameplay would hold, but that is YOUR fault, not ubi's.

Again, just one link from ubi, just one. And what is childish about my post may I ask? Do you even know what asinine means?
Again, it is ridiculous to knock a game because it doesn't play the way YOU want it to play even though it plays as intended.
Just what in heavens is childish about that. it is the truth. It's like knocking a football game because it won't let you play soccer, something it was never meant to do.

People assume the term "assassin" automatically equals stealth, simply NOT true.

This is NOT splinter cell or mgs. You are NOT a ninja sneaking around and it was never billed that way.

[robinkago]

Ubi don't stop. Make quality titles for vita too..as for those who wants them to stop you can stop playing or buying. Simple as that.

[squallcloud9]

I don't think they will stop. Before they announced the pirate theme i would have said otherwise, but that's such a bloody great idea, aaarrrgggh me maties!, now i think it will go on forever. As long as they can come up with great ideas, we will continue to hand over our cash. China for the one after perhaps? Who can resist that? Not me i tell you!

[leahcim]

stop

[claud3]

Stop until you find a better reason to make the series again.

We like the series, we hate the yearly release and no efort into the story

[N311V]

Even though I was a little disappointed with AC3 I don't want them to stop yet. I like the franchise a lot so 12 months is a long enough wait for me. If AC4 also disappoints then I might change my tune.

[blackstrr411]

STOP

[OpieWinston]

AC4 isn't some CoD shit...
It's been worked on for 3 years.
Yes that's not a lot of time but kicks the shit out of CoD.
Ubisoft has been hiring a number of employees. And their going to keep growing and giving out top quality products.

[yaz288]

what? 3 years is allot of time (also how many are exactly working on this? 300 or more maybe .. that's a lot). The fact that ac is an open world is why I think it needs this and more because AC3 just showed that its not enough!

if they say that the new ac have more guys working on it (The farcry team, splinter cell ..etc) in addition to the 3 years dev .. I will be exited. they better be working their ass! I know the game will be great but I am hoping for it be more.

also all the past cod games took 2 years on development and Cod is linear game. so you should expect some thing super decent I guess.

[OpieWinston]

I'm reserving judgement before I make a claim, Ubisoft hasn't disappointed me yet so I believe in most of their top selling franchises.

I think i remember reading something about the far cry devs being working on AC4 (Especially since it has a lot of Farcry aspects to it). ATM Ubisoft is releasing 3 prime games this year and I expect each of them to sell like hot cakes. (Maybe Blacklist will lose sales...NO IRONSIDE!)

But I agree 100% Open World games take a lot of time to create an amazing product but how I lok at it is there's a lot of things AC3 was using as sort of a prototype for AC4 so I'm hoping they learned from their mistakes and strengths in that game and use their knowledge to deliver a strong pirate experience.

CoD games are about 1.5 years in development to be more precise, due to the fact that when the developers swap each team has to constantly brain storm what will be "new".

AC4 is a day 1 buy...Just don't know if it'll be on my 360 or PC XD.

[Picnic]

Stop it, stop it and get somebody making Beyond Good and Evil 2. I want a videogame with characters who I really like not a yearly history lesson.

[v0rt3x]

People still don't understand the power of their wallet. Want it to stop? Stop buying. Simple as that.

[HexxedAvenger]

Just make one every 2-3 years. Make it a rare gem.IMO this game should of came out next year and on the PS4/New Xbox.

[GABRIEL1030]

STOP .........................

[ajax17]

What happened to assassinating people anyway?

[josephayal]

I want much more Assassin's Creed game from ubisoft, i'm thirsty

[Campy da Camper]

Its like a bunch of drug addicts here. People go on about needing to stop playing AC but as soon as it hits the streets they buy it up, overdose, then blame the dealer. Lol, if you want to stop you have to put down the pipe.

[aLiEnViSiToR]

Dont stop but take a "break" every 2 or 3 years for a game and make it great... give us AC game we deserve.

[silkrevolver]

Stop.

[Bonerboy]

yeah...what #1 wrote.

[DATNEWYAWKER]

STOP!!!

[RuleofOne343]

Am all for yearly release as long that story ,gameplay, are always improved from one year to the next .

[jakmckratos]

Yeah..they don't mean stop with our words..they mean our money..and I doubt idiots will stop doing that. Sad thing is is if they just fixed the combat it'd almost be enjoyable to do year after year.

[taquito]

they really don't care what outspoken nerds like us have to say, if billy-trailer park-murca jr. keeps buying it every 10 months, then hey, thats all that counts, the almighty imaginary dollar

[Haules]

More importantly, i wonder myself if games really have a "price-tag" of 60 Plus Millions in production. They release one and already have the next installment ready for later the year or next fiscal one. I bet if you asked Ubisoft, how much AC costs these days, one of the devs would answer : in the millions! 60€ or less per game and we are making losses... seriously what the eF.

I like the first one, was fresh and something we never have seen before. Already during the 2nd one, i was getting bored and then came Nr3 which wasnt the real #3 but they thought i would be nice to milk the cow just few months more. The protagonist was probably the most annoying one in video game history, especially Enzio (Italian + English Acent is bad! Sorry to all the italo-american speaking New York´er).

Someone has to explain to us, why games cost 60 Mio. and more to create, because i don´t see it.

[Haules]

More importantly, i wonder myself if games really have a "price-tag" of 60 Plus Millions in production. They release one and already have the next installment ready for later the year or next fiscal one. I bet if you asked Ubisoft, how much AC costs these days, one of the devs would answer : in the millions! 60€ or less per game and we are making losses... seriously what the eF.

I like the first one, was fresh and something we never have seen before. Already during the 2nd one, i was getting bored and then came Nr3 which wasnt the real #3 but they thought i would be nice to milk the cow just few months more. The protagonist was probably the most annoying one in video game history, especially Enzio (Italian + English Acent is bad! Sorry to all the italo-american speaking New York´er).

Someone has to explain to us, why games cost 60 Mio. and more to create, because i don´t see it.

[ALaish]

Stop. Thank you.