Future Assassin’s Creed Games Could Be Making a Positive Change

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Future Assassin's Creed Games Could Be Making a Positive Change

Highlights

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows producer Karl Onnée said four-year development cycles offer “the right balance” for iteration, which he finds crucial to making good games.
  • His comments suggest future Assassin’s Creed games could also have longer development cycles.
  • This would fit wider industry trends, as AAA game development cycles have generally been getting longer in recent years.

As a seasoned gamer with countless hours spent navigating the sprawling cities and battling Templars in the Assassin’s Creed series, I can’t help but feel a mix of anticipation and relief at the news that future installments might have longer development cycles.

In the future, there might be extended production periods for the “Assassin’s Creed” series, according to a high-ranking Ubisoft representative. This potential shift could be welcomed by many “Assassin’s Creed” enthusiasts, as some parts of the fanbase have consistently advocated for more time spent on game development within this franchise.

From 2009 to 2015, the Assassin’s Creed series came out with a new game each year. Later on, Ubisoft produced four more main games, and they plan to release the fifth one in November 2024. This means that there has been a new game about every two years from them. Over this period, the individual development cycles for these games have gradually become longer, with Assassin’s Creed Shadows being their longest project yet, which has been in development for roughly four years.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Producer Says 4-Year Dev Cycles Offer ‘the Right Balance’

As a dedicated gamer, I’ve been pondering about the development timeline for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and during a chat with GamesIndustry.biz, lead producer Karl Onnée shed some light. He hinted that a four-year cycle might become common in the series, at least for his projects. He believes this duration allows enough time to move from idea conception to production and gather the crucial feedback needed for adjustments.

Past a Certain Point, Making Good Games Requires Time More Than People

Expanding on the point made, the official highlighted that adding more people to a project might accelerate its completion, but it’s not ideal for making improvements or iterations. Instead, what truly counts is time. As Onnée put it, “The more time you have, the more opportunities there are for iteration.” In this perspective, four-year development cycles were considered as providing “the optimal balance” for developers.

Wait and see if other Ubisoft studios responsible for the Assassin’s Creed series align with Onnée’s viewpoint, as time will tell. However, given that AAA game development timelines have been expanding in recent years, it’s not surprising that future Assassin’s Creed games might follow a four-year release cycle, which aligns with current industry patterns.

As a die-hard Assassin’s Creed fan, I’m thrilled about the next major installment in the series, codenamed Hexe, currently being developed at Ubisoft Montreal. The exact starting point of its development remains undisclosed, but it was officially announced alongside AC Shadows (formerly known as Assassin’s Creed Codename Red) in September 2022.

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2024-08-13 03:03