The Risks Of Releasing Assassin's Creed Too Fast
Assassin's Creed: Revelations sounds great, but shouldn’t Ubisoft be concerned with gamers getting burnt out on the franchise? This is the third game in three years. Hopefully they aren’t aspiring to become the new Activision. Here are a few risks they're taking by going with this approach (some obvious, and a few others you may not have considered).
By releasing another new game so quickly—it makes them look creatively bankrupt. Surely they could come up with a new blockbuster IP, and take a break from the Assassin's Creed franchise for a couple of years, right? Or they could just get Beyond Good & Evil 2 out the door first, just a thought...
Maybe that’s not it, I’m sure they do have a couple of new IPs in the works. So then why are they sticking with Assassins Creed? Well, that’s simple, money! They know a new AC game is an excuse to print money—but I’m a firm believer that it shouldn’t be all about the money. The Uncharted series is Naughty Dog’s most popular franchise, but you don’t see them pushing out a new game every year. Why do you think that is?
It’s because they’re more concerned with quality and keeping the Uncharted brand strong. If a franchise has too many releases back to back, eventually gamers will start to think the developers are greedy, that's something Ubisoft shouldn't want to risk. And worse, the quality could drop. Why give gamers a “0.5” game when you can give them a full-blown sequel? Assassin's Creed 3 is what I’m talking about; it’s time to stop dragging things out.
This site has ads, they’re at the right hand side of this page. But you didn’t pay attention to them when you came here to read this article, why is that? Well, it’s probably ad blindness (or flashblock). I digress—there could be a thing as “game blindness”. Here’s my theory, if a franchise is “milked” too much, certain gamers will eventually stop paying attention. Now, you’re probably saying—wait DeShaun, the Call Of Duty games still sell. Yes, they do, but only to gamers that are already in love with the genre (eventually they’ll get tired of the series). To other gamers, they don’t even acknowledge their presence. It’s because they’re “always” there, like the ads on the sidebar.
Ubisoft should give gamers something to truly anticipate, I don’t know about you—but I can’t truly anticipate a game in a year’s time. There’s no better feeling than waiting a couple of years for a great game. After a while, you really start missing the franchise, so when a new game comes out, you’re ready for it. Can you truly miss a franchise in a year? If so, congratulations, you’re more dedicated than I am.
I could “talk” about this subject all day, but I’m going to cut it short with this. I think developers need to stop clinging to every game that sells millions. I’m not saying they shouldn’t release sequels, just that they shouldn’t get so wrapped up in one games success, they feel a need to squeeze it like a wet towel, until every drop of water hits the ground, then throw it on the floor and casually walk away (cough* Guitar Hero *cough)
What are your thoughts on the subject, are you happy as long as Assassin's Creed: Revelations remains good, or do you want Ubisoft to slow down?
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