Assassin's Creed fans aren't bored with a new game every year: Ubisoft

While the Assassin’s Creed franchise has become an annual one since the release of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Ubisoft’s Yannis Mallat has reiterated the sentiment. Mallat stated in an interview with Eurogamer that gamers aren’t quite bored or burnt out on the series just yet.

When asked about how fans would grow tired of the series as there is a new game every year, Mallat replied, “No.” He said, “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. On the contrary, people expect more and more of that content. So it’s natural to be able to provide that content. The gamers are happy and it’s our job to make them happy.”

Mallat does have the numbers to back him up, with the latest game in the franchise having sold a respectable 12 million copies – the most that any other game in the series has sold.

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The latest game in the series is the upcoming pirate-themed Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. The game is set to come out on October 29, which is around the same time as the release dates of the previous games in the series.

Not bored yet…

Back in March, Ubisoft had stated that Black Flag is going to have the most serious depiction of pirates in popular media yet. The company said that it wants to “redefine piracy in modern entertainment.”

“We have a fantastic opportunity for pirates in video games,” said Lead Content Manager, Carsten Myhill. “Certainly when Assassin’s Creed III naval came out, there was a clamour from the fans for a pirate game. There’s no-doubt that the people want it. But it’s not easy. It takes a very talented team, a lot of experience and great tech. It’s one thing having good naval combat, but combining that with good boarding and land-based gameplay in a seamless way, is hard to do."

The company wants to avoid the clichés that are usually part-and-parcel of pirate fiction. Usually, these involve tropes like Jerk with a Heart of Gold or Awesome McCoolname. Myhill added, “We’re staying away from clichés. Things like walking the plank, parrots on the shoulder and hooks for hands. We are giving pirates the HBO, reality treatment. And that allows us to redefine piracy in entertainment. No longer is it for kids.”

Black Flag looks like it’ll bring a load of improvements and innovations. The biggest new feature of the game is that it won’t have any loading screens at all. Associate Producer of the game, Sylvain Trottier, said, “At any moment, you’re going to be able to get close to the coast of an island you never saw before, dock your boat, dive in the water, walk on the beach and start discovering, all of this without any loading. This is true from sea to ground but it’s also going to be true from ship to ship.”

It will also feature something the developers refer to as “seamless systemic naval adventuring.” This essentially means that you don’t have to line your ship up to an enemy’s to get to the sweet spot that will let you board their ship. You can sail up to an enemy ship at any angle and still raid it.

For more information on the series, check out our look at the evolution of Assassin’s Creed.