Ubisoft not expecting Assassin's Creed IV to outperform Assassin's Creed III

Ubisoft is not expecting this year's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag to perform better than last year's Assassin's Creed III. CEO Yves Guillemot said today during a investor conference call that the French publisher is not modeling year-over-year franchise sales to increase.

"To come back to Assassin's Creed IV, in our numbers we have…we expect less than last year," Guillemot said today in response to an analyst question.

Assassin's Creed III has shipped and digitally sold 12.5 million copies to date.

Though Ubisoft is not forecasting Black Flag to outsell Assassin's Creed III, Guillemot said the potential for the game is greater compared to last year. He said this is due to the game's pirate theme being more relatable than last year's American Revolutionary War setting.

"We are actually pushing to achieve more than last year because we think the pirate segment is a great segment that can generate a lot more on a worldwide basis than what was achieved last year," Guillemot said. "But we wanted to be prudent on our expectations so that it can probably be a bonus if it comes."

Ubisoft is not the only publisher to forecast diminished sales for a new entry to a blockbuster series. Activision is not expecting Call of Duty: Ghosts to outperform Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which is on track to become the best-selling entry in the series of all-time.