Ubisoft has been releasing at least one major Assassin's Creed game each year since 2009. Apart from changing time periods and gradually improving graphics quality, the core game mechanics saw minimal changes with each passing year. Needless to say, the game lost fans interest with each new installment until Ubisoft decided to shake things up with the release of 2014's Assassin's Creed: Unity.
Assassin's Creed: Unity received a major graphics engine upgrade in addition to a set of new gameplay features including the introduction of two world traversal stances, plenty of parkour moves and a skill tree. The changes were largely well received by fans, but a multitude of visual glitches and gameplay bugs prevented the game from reaching its full potential.
Assassin's Creed Unity was followed by Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which takes place in Victorian era London, and was released in October 2015. The newest game in the series doesn't suffer from the technical problems that plagued Unity, but it still performed poorly in the market, no doubt conveying fans growing boredom.
This year however, it looks like Ubisoft has learned its lesson and decided to give the series a breathing room. In a post on the official Ubisoft blog, the company announced that it has decided not to release any major Assassin's Creed titles in 2016 in order to have enough time to rethink and evolve the franchise.
"This year, we also are stepping back and re-examining the Assassin’s Creed franchise. As a result, we’ve decided that there will not be a new Assassin’s Creed game in 2016. Since the release of Assassin’s Creed Unity, we’ve learned a lot based on your feedback. We’ve also updated our development processes and recommitted to making Assassin’s Creed a premier open-world franchise. We’re taking this year to evolve the game mechanics and to make sure we’re delivering on the promise of Assassin’s Creed offering unique and memorable gameplay experiences that make history everyone’s playground."