Assassin's Creed 5 News: Feudal Japan Setting Ruled Out for Game

The next Assassin's Creed game will not take place in Feudal Japan, according to the head of Ubisoft Toronto, Jade Raymond.

In her profile in Adweek, Raymond revealed that the next installment of the series will not be set in the age of samurai in Japan, despite fans clamoring for a game set in the era ever since Assassin's Creed 2. Instead, the next game will be set in her favorite historical era, she said, without elaborating.

While Assasin's Creed 5 might not be set in Feudal Japan, Raymond said she still thought the setting would be a worthy period to explore within the series.

"When we're building a franchise, we're thinking of a whole universe and how we're developing a meta-story that could live on for many years in games and TV," Raymond said. "If the story has nowhere to go, then you end up with the video game equivalent of 'The Matrix 2' or something where it's never going to be quite as genius."

With the Assassin's Creed series releasing games every year since 2009, it may only be a matter of time before fans finally get their wish and see an Assassin's Creed game set in the world of Japan during the period of Emperors, Daimyos and samurai.

Besides Feudal Japan, Ubisoft cites Ancient Egypt and World War 2 as the most requested time periods for future entries into the series. Another possible contender includes Colonial India under the rule of the British Raj due to the setting being used in an Assassin's Creed graphic novel. If Ubisoft is serious about making sure entries into the series have mass appeal beyond just video games, they may be using the comic book series set in India as a way to gauge interest in the period for a game using the setting.

In any case, Ubisoft will reveal further details about the game sooner than later. Ubisoft might even be creating two separate games for the franchise for 2014, according to a recent rumor—one for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and another for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.