With Ubisoft Montreal currently hard at work on Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Rainbow Six: Siege (among others), the publisher confirmed today that Ubisoft Quebec - located less than three hours away in Quebec City - will be the lead developer on a future (not necessarily the next) entry in the core Assassin’s Creed franchise, officially sharing the task of ushering the series into a new generation of consoles.

The movement and shared responsibility of top talent within Ubisoft has been long-documented, with the creative director of AC3 Alex Hutchinson now leading the charge on Far Cry 4. But the official announcement confirms that after putting in work in a support role, Ubisoft Quebec is being entrusted with envisioning a new game from top to bottom. Nicolas Rioux, Managing Director of Ubisoft Quebec explains:

The studio’s work on the open world Homestead of AC3 and the surprisingly strong ‘Cry Freedom’ DLC prove that they know their way around an AC title, but Ubisoft’s plan of elevating the Quebec City offices has been in place for some time. Having just committed $4 million of a total $28 million to establishing a cutting-edge facility in a newly-updated and trendy Quebec City neighborhood - a location they’ll reside in until 2028 - it’s clear Quebec will soon hold two powerhouse studios for the French publisher.

But before anyone assumes that Montreal will be handing off the keys to the franchise in favor of a new series once they’ve finished adding cooperative play to the formula, Ubisoft Quebec’s executive director of development Francois Pelland (himself a veteran in the franchise) explained to CVG that teamwork will still be a top priority:

It’s still unclear exactly when the game in question is projected to release, since the new offices won’t be completed until 2016. But Pelland confirms that while they are currently assisting Montreal in development of Unity, the project they will be leading is another next-gen-only title. The only other AC game rumored to exist is Assassin’s Creed: Comet, the previous-gen release whose absence at E3 has led us to believe Ubisoft has changed its plans, or is letting Unity enjoy its press for now.

“It doesn’t mean Assassin’s Creed is now in Quebec forever, it means we’ll take one game in a leadership role and continue to work closely with Montreal. As you’ve seen before, the collaboration between studios is key for the success of Assassin’s Creed.”

Is Ubisoft Quebec already well underway in creating the next next-gen story and hero? That would seem to be the case, but don’t expect Ubisoft Quebec to spill the beans too soon. Do you think Ubisoft has shown enough collaborative success to add a new lead studio, or do you think any team outside of Montreal will have something to prove? Share your thoughts (either optimistic or skeptical) in the comments below.

Assassin’s Creed: Unity will be released for PC, PS4 and Xbox One in late 2014.

-

Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrew_dyce.

Source: Ubisoft, CVG