Ubisoft's VP of Editorial explains that the developers behind the next Assassin's Creed are determined to release a polished product, potentially delaying it past 2017.

Many gamers are excited for the next entry to the Assassin's Creed series, and the hype has further intensified due to the upcoming film based on the Assassin's Creed games. However, it seems that gamers may have a lot longer to wait than initially expected, with a new statement from Ubisoft's VP of Editorial indicating that there may not be a new game in 2017.

In an interview with IGN, Ubisoft's VP of Editorial, Tommy François explained that in addition to creating innovation in Assassin's Creed, the team wants to make sure that the next entry to the franchise is as polished as possible. According to François, this means that the Alpha phase will need to be completed one full year before the game is actually released in order to provide adequate time to produce a complete, polished experience. This could potentially push the next Assassin's Creed past a 2017 release date:

"We believe Alpha for these games needs to be one year before release. We're trying to achieve that... This is the goal we're going for: Alpha one year before, more quality, more polish... So if this means biting the [bullet] and not having an Assassin's game...  [in 2017], f*** it."

This may surprise some fans of the series, since Ubisoft previously announced that the main series wouldn't receive its usual annual release in 2016, but didn't imply anything regarding 2017 being skipped, too. Given the series' recent history, most gamers will likely appreciate Ubisoft's efforts to get the game right before release. Prior releases, like Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood definitely lacked polish, and were full of errors ranging from graphical glitches to serious bugs that could render the games unplayable. Other offshoot entries to the series, like Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia, have also received poor reviews, so hopefully Ubisoft taking its time will mean that the next entry to the series is solid.

The next Assassin's Creed game promises to be a revolutionary entry to the series, but gamers shouldn't expect its release any time soon. In the meantime, revisiting the roots of the series with the Assassin's Creed Ezio Collection should help to tide over fans. Furthermore, the developers of the Assassin's Creed movie have said that it's a good thing there won't be a 2016 Assassin's Creed game, so perhaps spacing it out past 2017 to not interfere with the home release of the film is a good idea, too.

The next Assassin's Creed currently has no release date, and will presumably release for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: IGN