Ubisoft's Boivin: Assassin's Creed License "Needs a Breather" after Brotherhood

Ubisoft associate producer Jean-Francois Boivin thinks video game franchises, like Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed, need room to breathe and shouldn't fall into annual release traps. "I don't think there's going to be an Assassin's Creed in 2011," Boivin told Eurogamer. "You can't plough a field every year. Once every three years -- or once every something -- you have to let it breathe. You have to let the minerals back in. I think it's the same thing with any license, really."

"I think we're going to let [Assassin's Creed] breathe a bit and really focus on bringing something new and exciting for the next time around," Boivin said. The Assassin's Creed associate producer also pointed out that "business" can come back to override everything he says because "at the end of the day it's about selling games."

Following the success of Assassin's Creed 2, Ubisoft quickly revealed plans to put players back in the shoes of Ezio Auditore da Firenze in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood; a new single-player adventure with multiplayer components. According to Boivin, Brotherhood marks the end of Ezio's story.

Boivin admits that next installment of Assassin's Creed will continue the path as previous titles, following Desmond Miles through the memories of his ancestors. "It has to stay in there. If it doesn't, then there's this whole justification that needs to happen," he concluded.