Rumor: No new Assassin's Creed in 2016

Assassin's Creed was originally released in 2007 and with the exception of the year immediately following, Ubisoft has added a new game to the franchise every year since: Assassin's Creed II, Brotherhood, Revelations, III, Black Flag, Rogue, Unity, and Syndicate. But a rumor now making the rounds says we won't see a new AC in 2016, because Ubisoft is completely overhauling the series to make it more akin to The Witcher.

That in itself isn't necessarily a big deal, but the professed reason for the delay most definitely is. The new game will be set in ancient Egypt, before the existence of the Assassins and Templars, and "will be a complete revamp of the series,” the poster said. “The game is going for a Witcher feel, with player progression [and] freeform combat system. Horse is back, and boats too. It's made by the Black Flag team.”

Unsurprisingly, Ubisoft declined to shine any light on the situation. “We can’t comment on rumor or speculation,” a Ubisoft rep said in reply to my inquiry. “We’re always happy when players are excited about our games, past, present and future. In the meantime, we hope that the latest images from the Assassin’s Creed movie set will keep fans of the franchise happy and eager to find out more!”

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.