Jade Raymond, managing director at Ubisoft Toronto, let slip at SXSW that the studio is developing five games that they haven’t yet officially announced. Of the five, two are being developed with help from other unnamed game studios. That’s a big helping of Ubisoft; according to Raymond, “There are definitely a lot of plates spinning.” The big question now is, “What are those games?” Please note that this article is strictly conjecture and the speculation therein is in no way confirmed by Ubisoft.
For my money, at least one is a new Assassin’s Creed title. ACIV: Black Flag was an immensely successful way to ring in the current console generation and the series has shown no intent of slowing down now. Of course, before Black Flag‘s release, Ubisoft confirmed the development of three Assassin’s Creed games (of which Edward Kenway’s swashbuckling adventure was one), so maybe they don’t count since we already know they’ll exist. But confirmation isn’t really announcement, is it?
The next most likely candidate is a Watch Dogs sequel. Ubisoft has hinted at long-term plans for the series and was careful not to rule out (or confirm) sequels. While it might seem a bit premature to begin development on the sequel to an unreleased game, it’s totally possible and altogether probable: Watch Dogs has received enough acclaim already that it’s almost a surefire hit, and movie studios adopt the same approach to film series.
Speaking of films, Prince of Persia hasn’t gotten any Ubisoft love since 2008’s reboot. Ubisoft Montreal’s Yannis Mallat told IGN that the series had been “paused” early last year. He said that they’d reveal more when they’d conceptualized something: “Prince of Persia is as important as any other franchise for Ubisoft. As soon as we have something to show, we will.” It’s my bet that that “something” is one of Ubisoft Toronto’s secrets–remember, two of those games are being developed with other studios, so a Toronto/Montreal dream team is well within the realm of possibility.
Given Ubisoft’s knack for annualized titles, it’s not too early to begin developing a Watch Dogs sequel
I’d love to hope that Raymond is referring to Beyond Good & Evil 2 when she mentions unannounced games, but that game’s existence has been known since 2008 and it’s still in development. Since I have to guess, I’d wager Ubisoft plans to kick off a new IP with one of their hush-hush titles. Watch Dogs is their most successful new franchise in a good while, and if they can get a new game to ride on its coattails, they probably should.
You knew it was coming, and it probably is: Far Cry 4 rounds out my speculative list of projects Ubisoft Toronto’s keeping under wraps. It’s even more of a no-brainer than Watch Dogs; Far Cry 3 was hailed as one of the best open-world games of the last generation. Ubi has got to see the potential for a bigger, better free-roaming FPS in the current generation.
Come what may, be it my predictions or something completely different, we’re almost certain to learn the identities of some of these games at or before E3 2014. Are my guesses close enough? What are your predictions for Ubisoft’s top-secret projects? Let your voice be heard in the comments below.