Rumour: No Assassin's Creed in 2016; Going for Witcher feel! (UPDATE: Kotaku Leak, Codenamed Assassin's Creed Empires)

Source:

http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/371763/Rumour+No+Assassins+Creed+in+2016,+2017+set+in+Egypt/

It's actually a rumour from 4chan so huge, huge, huge amounts of salt please.

Story:

"Egypt. There won't be an AC in 2016. You may screencap this and refer to it when nothing is shown in E3 2016. You'll have to wait until 2017 for it. The reason: It will be a complete revamp of the series. The game is going for a Witcher feel, with player progression, freeform combat system. Horse is back, and boats too. It's made by the Black Flag team. You may leave any question you want answered."

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If this were remotely true, I'd be oh so happy! Though, as I've said already, it's nothing but a rumour. Don't count on it until it actually happens (if it even happens).

Also Egypt would be amazing! Love the setting!

What say you, System Warriors?

UPDATE: char here, subbing for Desmonic

Looks like Kotaku's leaked the game as well- they have a good track record of leaking Assassin's Creed games (they've leaked every year's Assassin's Creed game since 2013's Black Flag), so I think this rumor just got a whole lot more validity:

Originally Posted by Jason Schreier

The next Assassin’s Creed, which we believe is set in ancient Egypt and code-named Empire, won’t launch until 2017, according to both a new online rumor and sources speaking to Kotaku. One person familiar with Ubisoft’s upcoming gaming plans told me this afternoon that the decision to delay Empire from fall 2016 was made after 2014’s disappointing Unity, and that this bump will allow the development team more room to improve and polish the game. The source said this bi-annual approach could be a new trend for Assassin’s Creed, which has suffered from franchise fatigue in recent years.

Originally Posted by Jason Schreier

Rumors about Empire originated this morning on the 4chan boards, of all places, where an anonymous poster claiming to be a developer at Ubisoft wrote that Assassin’s Creed would be skipping this year and that 2017’s big game would be set in Egypt. Although I haven’t been able to confirm the veracity of this 4chan poster—whose posts are compiled on NeoGAF here—everything he wrote matches up with what I’ve heard independently for months.

I’d heard last year from three different people familiar with goings-on at Ubisoft that the next big Assassin’s Creed would be set in ancient Egypt. Since this morning, two other independent sources have contacted me to corroborate that. I heard about the code name Empire from two of those sources. Three of them told me the game would indeed launch in 2017. Months ago, one source told me the game would also take place in ancient Rome, although that may have changed; the 4chan poster says some sections had been removed from the game. (“There are talks about making a trilogy of this same character, so they might explore Greece/Rome next,” the poster wrote.)

http://kotaku.com/sources-next-big-a...pin-1750937895

But isn't that just assassin's creed 2?

What do you mean? The supposed delay in release?

Don't believe it. But if it's true and it's directed by Ashraf Ismael (Black Flag) then I may finally return to Ass Creed franchise.

That sounds pretty awesome. Egypt and Japan are the only settings I'll take for a new AssCreed.

It's going to be this and EA's open world Star Wars game competing during the holidays in 2017.

Yup, it's one of those that's too good to be true, but hey 2015 had plenty of those moments in terms of games announcements. Still, for now, it's most definitely on the "not buying" pile of rumours.

I would like Egypt to be setting though. I think they desperately need to go back further in time to make the concept appealing again. They're getting dangerously close of modern times and with that modern weapons, thus losing one of few unique aspects of the series.

I wish they would call it something different, getting pretty sick off hearing Asscreed on forums.

No the actual game. Assassin's Creed two was a huge open world for the time with horses and traveling about with awesome quests minus the free form combat system and player progression which syndicate and unity introduced. They're basically explaining making assassin's creed 2 bigger with boats and an rpg like system.

If they stay true to the roots of the Assasin, proper, then the farthest back they can go is to the late 11th century with the founding of the Ismailis.

hmmm, that could be interesting,although AC is a cash cow no matter what we think of the series.

Ah, yes. Sorta. The horse was only useful for parts of the game, and I suppose it was more "a bunch of big maps" together rather than one single open world/map. I can see how a single, better designed map, could make much better use of a horse, a better combat system, a better parkour system and so forth.

Still that is still one of the (if not THE) best AC games yet, so I suppose going back to it can only be good!

Pull it off properly, and I'd buy it.

@Shewgenja: I feel that's a broad enough chunk of the timeline to pick decent enough settings all over the globe. Even then, they can always make a game during the time of the dudes that made pieces of Eden. That could be a fun little side-game I think.

Yeah one big map would be better, syndicate does it well. Make the combat good and a really good conspiracy chart because of open world.

and not egypt.....

Wanted an AC game set in Egypt ever since the end of Revelations. Would definitely love to have an AC game set in Egypt with "back to basics" gameplay. There are just too many gimmicks in new AC games as you said.

And now we have grappling hook from Batman too. And if they are going for "Witcher feel" then I hope that doesn't mean, open map full of fetch quests.

One thing that Witcher franchise got right from the start were handcrafted quests. I praise Witcher 2 for being short, but with full of high quality quests instead of being lengthy, full of fetch/filler quests (traditional Ubisoft formula).

@Animal-Mother: Yes, Egypt! Climb all the pyramids! :P

1 year is not enough,let the series for 5 years minimum

This ^^

I don't know why they never touched it. Assassin's brotherhood was founded by Ismailis (major branch of Shea Islam), and their brotherhood was destroyed by the Mongols, yet Ubisoft never focused on that. Missed opportunity IMO.

@Cloud_imperium: Don't expect proper side-quests from Ubisoft :P Their formula, as annoying it has become, seems to work really well with the general audience.

Still, a back to basics with less gimmicks and a bigger focus on the gameplay essentials (make the combat feel right, the exploration worthwile, the parkour fun, the missions engaging (Unity did this well already IMO), etc) would be great. And of course, an appealing setting.

Absolutely not. Egypt was a barren fucking wasteland of pyramids.

Was are we gonna climb? Pyramids and mud huts? lol no.
Let me guess we'll meet moses and the parting of the red sea will be because of a piece of eden.....

It's going to be hard to pull a leap of faith off a pyramid.

Well, we already climbed generic wood houses in AC3 so mud huts is fair game :P

And yes, Moses would totally be the templar we'd need to kill. Because.....reasons!!

This

+

=

Problem solved! :D

The entire series could use a break, like for a good few years. Hell maybe even more than that.

I don't know, it sounds too good to be true.

The series definitely needs a break- and a revamp.

Some new info:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=191191986&postcount=1

I'll actually be hyped for this if it's ancient Egypt.

Aye, most fans of the series (fans that have been there since the first game) agree on that. They need a break, if only to make sure whatever they launch is properly tested. AC3-AC4-ACUnity was a trio of ever increasing bugs and glitches.

Haven't played Syndicate yet, don't know it fares on that regard.

@Desmonic: They need to revisit the Desmond stuff. I haven't gon back to AC because of this. I liked when the stories were connected.

I only played AC1 and AC2, and was pretty happy with Syndicate. If it had any bugs at all, i must have overlooked them or they didn't break the immersion of playing the game. I heard of all the bugs with Unity so stayed away from that one - and made Syndicate my first of this gen.

Syndicate did still suffer from the same complaint as other AC games, just not enough variety in the side-quests and activities. If you go for 100% completion, it feels like doing the same thing over and over and over again. It needs more variety within the open world. But if you just stick to the story and not worry about completing everything, it was actually pretty damn good I thought,

I can see them taking a break. We've had 1-2 AssCreed games a year since the original. The series needs a break.

I haven't truly liked an Assassin's Creed game since Revelations (even that was a step down after Brotherhood). Sure, Black Flag was good, it must much better than what came before (and after) it, but there hasn't been a truly good AssCreed game since the Ezio trilogy ended. Rogue and Unity were bad, and Syndicate isn't anything special either.

The series definitely needs a break. i don't know if there's any truth in this rumour, but I sure hope there is.

I wouldn't mind if they backed off of the series some. I also think they should let Ubisoft Quebec handle it from now on. Syndicate is the best AC game in awhile. Stick to that formula with some minor improvements and they have a winner. Now people just need to get over the bad taste unity left in their mouths. That being said there is no way Ubi is going to back off of the yearly releases.

I hope so. Ubisoft needs to give that shit a rest

It's tough to put any stock in an "all new and improved" assassins creed, when their marketing each year is always "all new and improved!" bullocks....

Still, if they did reinvent the series I'd consider keeping tabs on it. Till then creed is dead. I ate too much if it and now I'm sick.

Well, i've always enjoyed this series... mostly because of the settings.

Hope this is true.

Well, they're approaching on 10 years with the same formula since the first game (with some changes here and there), so I'd say it's about time to set up a 10th anniversary with a complete new approach (not a PR one, but an actual gameplay one). I would be more than happy with a return to basics as I feel the constant use of gimmicks with each has made them lose a bit of focus on those things (the combat up until Unity has felt boring or just outright broken, the world empty and pointless outside of the main story, the parkour has been hit or miss ever since Revelations and let's not even start on the actual "story").

So they want to take the iconic, visceral and visually satisfying AC gameplay and transform it into run-of-the-mill console action adventure hitbox slashing?

Why not. Variety sucks anyway. Let's make all games the same!

I hope that is sarcasm.

Irony doesn't work on the internet (but only one part of my post was ironic)... ;)

Sounds pretty good. Read somewhere the rumour they want to make another trilogy out of it. ancient egypt- ancient greece and then my dream setting ancient rome.

I don't know how an Egypt setting would even make sense for AssCreed. I mean, it would be cool and all that, but from a narrative standpoint and the lore the series has established so far, I don't see how it would make sense.

Assassin's Creed is one of the worst games I've ever played. It ruined my life because I spent 60 dollars on a game that was so soul-crushingly bad that it made my penis shrivel. I now hate Ubisoft with a passion (though that won't stop me from playing the shit out of Far Cry) and will sue them, particularly for the coma I went into due to the mind-numbing repetition of the missions and the emotional distress I suffered when I discovered that I will never get those hours of my life back. Not only do I hate Ubisoft, I hate anybody that enjoys their games. I wish them all a 2016 filled with misery and misfortune.

Is that enough salt?

If this is true, it'd certainly recapture my interest.

I hope they give us a port of AC Rogue for X1 & PS4 this year

@GreySeal9: Not nearly enough bro. :P

@Desmonic: agreed. I actually talk about my issues with the story on the latest podcast... How they basically stopped respecting my time, in terms of story around black flag... Which further cements my malaise with the series...

I would absolutely look forward to details surrounding a completely reworked assassins creed, because on the trajectory it's heading, Unity was my final game of the series.

Damn. I think only @casharmy is capable of providing magnitudes of salt that you require.

This seems to be pretty real at this point, even Kotaku is reporting on it, and Kotaku has leaked every Assassin's Creed game since 2013's Black Flag

AAAWWWWW YEAH!

Things just got real! Awesome!

I'm just glad they are taking a break. The series has needed one for a while.

Good on you, Ubisoft.

Hm. Egypt. That sounds exactly like my country.