Will there be an Assassin‘s Creed 5?

As a long-time Assassin‘s Creed gamer and fan who has eagerly followed the series since the original 2007 release, I receive this question a lot: "Will there ever be an Assassin‘s Creed 5?"

The short answer is no, Ubisoft has moved past numbered entries and there are currently no plans for a game specifically called "Assassin‘s Creed 5" in the works. However, that doesn‘t mean the future of AC isn‘t incredibly exciting!

Why There Won‘t Be an "Assassin‘s Creed 5"

After the phenomenal success of Assassin‘s Creed IV: Black Flag in 2013, Ubisoft decided to stop numbering future core installation for the series. This was likely an attempt to make title naming more flexible as they expanded the AC universe.

Additionally, the last three major releases − Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla − represented a massive RPG-inspired overhaul for the franchise. These sprawling action adventures bear little resemblance to predecessors like AC II or Brotherhood. Ubisoft is essentially treating them as a reboot while advancing key modern-day storyline elements.

As such, it wouldn‘t make much sense to suddenly go back to "Assassin‘s Creed 5" after years heading in an entirely new direction.

Assassin‘s Creed Post-Valhalla – Mirage and Beyond

Luckily, just because there won‘t be an AC5 doesn‘t mean fans have nothing to look forward to! At the recent September 2022 Ubisoft Forward event, several tantalizing projects were teased:

• Assassin‘s Creed Mirage − Takes place in 9th century Baghdad and modern-day Istanbul. Returns to the stealth roots of earlier games by letting us incarnate novice assassin Basim from Valhalla during his youth. Promises a more intimate, character-driven 30+ hour experience compared to recent 100+ hour RPGs. As a long-time AC aficionado, I‘m absolutely thrilled to see this smaller scale comeback! Expected release: 2023.
• Assassin‘s Creed Codename Red − Set during 16th century Feudal Japan, one of the most requested future settings by fans. Little is known beyond the Sengoku period backdrop, but the reveal trailer showed temples, samurai warriors, and iconic Japanese architecture. As someone fascinated by Japanese history and culture, I‘ll be following every morsel of info on this one closely! Expected release: 2024.
• Assassin‘s Creed Codename Hexe − Almost nothing concrete yet, but speculation points to 16th-17th century Germany and the darker era of witch hunts. Potential to explore Templar machinations in fueling mass hysteria to empower their order. Between the Salem trials in AC III and vampire themes in Syndicate, the series has toyed with occult subjects before to great success. Expected release: 2025 or beyond.

Beyond these three games, Ubisoft‘s recently announced Assassin‘s Creed Infinity aims unify the franchise going forward into an evolving online platform that connects various settings and characters. But Infinity is likely years away from an actual debut, with Mirage, Codename Red and Codename Hexe expected first.

The Numbers Behind Assassin‘s Creed‘s Future

To illustrate AC‘s continued sales power showing core games still have strong demand, below is a data table compiling multiplatform lifetime sales from various installments according to Ubisoft‘s official figures and VGChartz estimates:

(*Ubisoft public figure as of latest earnings report)

AC‘s immense fanbase built over 15 years ensures future installments will shift considerable copies even without a numbered Assassin‘s Creed 5.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot himself stated intentions to develop the series over "10 to 20 more years". Ambitious indeed, but the publisher clearly has long-ranging plans to keep iconic stealth/action franchise evolving into the future.

The Exciting Evolution of the Creed

While I‘m admittedly nostalgic for the classic AC formula, Ubisoft‘s developer talent has so far guided the property into compelling new directions lately. And they have proven responsive to fan feedback by offering up Mirage‘s anticipated back-to-basics approach next year.

Assassin‘s Creed shows no signs of losing relevance when setting records like Valhalla‘s 100 million gameplay hours logged to date. Even 12 years later from the first entry, some experts estimate the games have grossed cumulative lifetime revenues over $5 billion!

As someone who analyzes gaming industry trends and sales data closely for my own content channel, I‘m thrilled so many newcomers continue discovering the Animus universe every year. With offerings targeted at both RPG fans and classic action purists moving forward, the Assassin‘s Creed franchise may stealthily stick around another decade or more.

Just don‘t expect them to ever go back to "Assassin‘s Creed 5" as the name after moving well beyond numbered entries since 2013‘s Black Flag! But given what I‘ve seen so far about Mirage, Codename Red, Codename Hexe and even farther future projects, longtime devotees like me will have plenty more epic history-spanning adventures to enjoy.