Ubisoft Knows Where Assassin's Creed Will End

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is the latest in what has now become an annual franchise. In six years, Ubisoft has cranked out six tales of white-garbed assassins across time. The series seems like it could go on forever with the whole of history to play with, but Ubisoft does have an idea of where the series will finish. Assassin's Creed IV director Ashraf Ismail told Eurogamer that the overall Assassin's Creed brand team, which coordinates the franchise between all of Ubisoft's studios, has rough plans for the end of the series

"We have multiple development teams, then we have the brand team that sits on top and is filled with writers and designers concerned with the series' overall arc," said Ismail. "So there is an overall arc, and each iteration has its place inside this.

"We have an idea of where the end is, what the end is. But of course Yves [Guillemot, Ubisoft's overall boss] announced we are a yearly title, we ship one game a year. So depending on the setting, depending on what fans want, we've given ourselves room to fit more in this arc. But there is an end."

Having a central brand team for the franchise also means that upcoming assassins can be teased in earlier titles.

"We're now able to seed stuff earlier and earlier in our games," Ismail continued. "So for example in [AC4] we have Edward, who was seeded in AC3. But there's a lot more stuff in our game that is hinting at other possibilities."

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U on October 29, 2013. PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation are getting the game eventually as well. Splinter Cell: Blacklist developer Ubisoft Toronto is already heading up the next iteration in the franchise.