Ubisoft Entertainment SA has been churning out new Assassin’s Creed games every year since 2009 (2007 if you count a couple of games for Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable), but the studio has finally decided to give the franchise a rest this year for the first time in nearly a decade.

In a blog post, Ubisoft noted that 2016 is a big year for the Assassin’s Creed series with the upcoming release of the franchise’s first live-action feature film, which releases on December 21 and will star Academy Award nominated actor Michael Fassbender.

“This year, we also are stepping back and re-examining the Assassin’s Creed franchise,” Ubisoft added in its blog post. “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.”

We all just miss Ezio

Pretty much all of Ubisoft’s mainline Assassin’s Creed games have performed well financially, but none have improved (or established) the franchise’s formula more than Assassin’s Creed II.

Assassin’s Creed II improved on nearly every aspect of the original’s gameplay while also introducing the incredibly popular character of Ezio Auditore, the charming Renaissance Italian who became one of the most important figures in Assassin’s Creed’s fictional universe.

Ezio was so popular with fans that he remains the only historical Assassin’s Creed character to star in more than one mainline title, having appeared in Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. He also appeared in a number of side-story games on mobile gaming systems and smartphones.

With Ubisoft taking the time off to “evolve” the franchise, the studio will likely be looking closely at what makes Assassin’s Creed II and its direct sequels stand out so much from the crowd.

Hopefully, Ubisoft will come to the conclusion that people actually did care about the main characters and overarching story of Assassin’s Creed before the studio suddenly decided to abandon them after Assassin’s Creed III.

Image courtesy of Ubisoft Entertainment SA