Ubisoft: Assassin's Creed 3 sequels depend on reaction to new hero Connor

Ubisoft has said that further Assassin's Creed games featuring new hero Connor could be in the pipeline should gamers warm to the character.

Assassin's Creed 3 will follow a trilogy of titles featuring Renaissance hunk Ezio Auditore, which ended in the slightly lacklustre Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

"We made three games with Ezio because people loved Ezio," Assassin's Creed 3 associate producer Julien Laferrière told Eurogamer. But could he see the same pattern repeating itself for the series' new American Revolution setting?

"We're going to see how players react to the guy [Connor] for sure. You'll get to experience portions of his life, you'll see why he becomes an assassin and what his motivations are.

"The more you know about Connor the more you'll love him, but in the end we'll see what the reception is like."

Two Ezio-era sequels allowed Ubisoft to keep up a pattern of annual releases for the series while core staff spent time planning the franchise's next numbered iteration.

"For Assassin's Creed 3 we got three years, and I think it shows," Laferrière said. But the producer refused to be drawn on what this would mean should Connor's tale be extended into a second or third annual game.

"Assassin's Creed 3 is the product of three years of development, but [because of that] we also now have a new engine, AnvilNext. It's tough to answer that without compromising anything. I can't really answer that question because there's so many implications."

Series boss Alex Hutchinson previously insisted that quality, not quantity, should always be the main focus of developing the annual series.

"I find it strange we've decided yearly is too often," Hutchinson said during a panel at GDC Europe last month attended by Eurogamer. "If Radiohead put out an album every month, I'd buy it. It's about the quality."

When reminded of the quote, Laferrière agreed with his boss.

"Our goal is to make the best game possible. I agree with Alex - if there's a good game every year, I'll play it every year.

"It's like a good television series that goes on for a while. I like Seinfeld, it went on for seven seasons and most of them were pretty good. If they had a bad season, would I have lost interest? Maybe, maybe not. But when the quality is there, the frequency is not an issue.

"I understand the worries of the fans," Laferrière concluded, "but we share the same world. We wouldn't want to let down the franchise and release crappy games."