Theory: Assassin's Creed Will Soon Be Scrapped For Watch Dogs

Ubisoft officially revealed Assassin's Creed Syndicate today. The next game in the AC franchise is set in 19th century London and is about Jacob Frye, an Assassin based out of that city. Ubisoft also released a gameplay trailer, which you can see here...

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Now, my opinion on the overall trailer is that it looks great. Combat looks fun thanks to it being faster and seems to have employed the Arkham style fisticuffs instead of swords and such, but we are looking at pre-alpha footage so things can change. The rope launcher is a no brainer that I'm surprised took so long to add, but I suppose they can now use technology as the main reason as to its existence. I also like the fact that you can use environmental traps to your advantage and they also brought back throwing knives. All good stuff.

But I've noticed that they've implemented more Watch Dogs mechanics into the game as well. Now you can use carriages. More importantly, you can also highjack carriages, chase down other carriages, and there is even a line indicator on the streets showing you where you'll be going.

We've already seen Watch Dogs mechanics being added into the AC franchise with Unity and how the stealth and cover mechanics, as well as the co-op portion were integrated into AC Unity, and we've also seen how Ubisoft have been tying together multiple storylines across games as we see with continuity between AC4 Black Flag to AC Rogue to AC3/Unity. We've also seen that the modern day AC universe and the Watch Dogs universe are one and the same as evidenced by this optional quest in Watch Dogs.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Now that we have all the info, it's time for my theory. Assassin's Creed has been going on for awhile, and the overall story has its problems thanks in no small part to the First Civilization angle Ubisoft adopted and decided to run heavily with. Watch Dogs is a new franchise that still has room to either avoid an overarching story altogether, or create one. The AC franchise is now in a state, at least in the modern age, where Juno is essentially an A.I. so this is how I see things playing out.

The AC games will continue for a few games, minimum of 2 more, establishing the real world connection between the franchises. Ultimately the modern day Assassins will have to confront Juno, and who better to help them fight a war in cyberspace than the hackers of the Watch Dogs universe, likely DedSec. I theorize that the connection between the Assassins and DedSec, or whatever hacker group will remain after the Watch Dogs franchise has a few games, will likely be Rebecca Crane given her history and particular skills, though it could potentially be someone entirely new.

The Watch Dogs universe will have to cement the Abstergo/Blume relationship to create a "common enemy" scenario for the Assassin/Hacker relationship to come together, all culminating in a final showdown where the Hackers deal with Juno and the Assassins keep the Templars at bay.

That explains how I think the progression will go, but not why I think AC will be scrapped. Well that's easy. Like I said, AC has been going on for awhile, and doubtlessly costs more to make than Watch Dogs given the historical factor to it requires significant research. We also see the AC games moving more and more to coincide with the Present Day, so it seems Ubisoft want to be done with the genetic memory/Animus angle altogether. There's also the fact that removing the parkour system almost entirely and keeping it at the minimal level it was in Watch Dogs is doubtlessly better for preventing bugs and keeping costs down.

Having the franchises merge, then move forward as Watch Dogs in the Present Day removes a lot of problems for Ubisoft and puts them in a position to create their own version of a GTA, though they will not likely ever match Rockstar's proficiency considering how much dedication Rockstar puts into that franchise. How unfortunate for us that there will be no AC game set in Japan or Egypt though, at least not a main series entry.

So what do you think? Does my theory sound plausible or am I just grasping? Let me know what your theories are below.

[gangsta_red]

I'm not a fan of any of the AC's or Watch Dogs but I like your theory of merging these two video game worlds. I always found taking two separate franchises and merging them together fascinating. Like Blade Runner and Alien, or Portal and Half Life.

Video games and video game companies should do this more often.

[iamnsuperman]

I think the features are less about Ubisoft wanting to replace AC with Watch Dogs and more to do with how Ubisoft makes games. They have taken the production line model. Far Cry 4 and The Crew took the "Tower climbing" gameplay feature. They see a feature that works and try to put it in as many games as possible.

I do think Ubisoft wanted Watch Dogs to be the next AC as it is a matter of time until the user base really tires from AC. Though I feel the reaction to Watch Dogs may delay or even kill this idea. Also one thing that will keep AC popular is going into the past. I think Ubisoft is looking for a new yearly franchise (just incase AC dies) but I don't think Watch Dogs will be it (quite frankly Watch Dogs needs to distance itself from AC).

[DragonKnight]

I agree that going to the Past would make things interesting and fresh in terms of locales (even going as far back as the prime days of the First Civ), but Ubisoft seems to not be interested in that as each new game successively moves forward in time and not back. That's not to say that it can't or won't go back in time, but it's likely that they'd need a curve ball of a reason to do that, such as going back to the First Civ. days to find some way of stopping Juno.

As for Watch Dogs, one game isn't enough to kill it. It's a good game, I personally enjoyed it at a lot and it has a lot of promise. It just needs to improve on some basic flaws and have a better writing team for the characters and story and it can be a great franchise. The PVP alone was a lot of fun for me, if they could vary it up or somehow make it more like the Souls game where invasions actually are random and not only occur once you open yourself to playing online, it would be excellent.

Except those stupid minigames. I hated trying to break through that Deadmau5 wannabe's encryption.

[Takwin]

Decent opinion. But the super easy answer is they absolutely will not merge them because they can sell them separately and make more money. They are in the production line method between Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Watch Dogs. They are incredibly similar at their core and will get even more so over time, but this is to streamline production and increase profits.

[TFJWM]

Well It sounds great and I can see them pushing the same universe, I just can not see them giving up on a yearly franchise that sells so well.

IMO Ubi would love to turn Watchdogs into a yearly or at worst every other year. Money wise I can't see them turning them into one franchise

[TransientDreamer]

Ubisoft is not going to scrap AC. They would be walking away from trucks of money. These theories never make any sense.

Ubisoft wants both AC and Watch_Dogs to be successful. Not one in lieu of the other.

[Blacklash93]

As interesting as that would be, I don't expect Ubisoft to drop AC until the IP is milked dry.

[annoyedgamer]

Ubisoft would not do it, that would cut profit margins. Especially when all of Ubisoft's open world games are now clones of each other in different settings.

[Wii_nes_007]

Whoever wrote this is an idiot. AC will never stop. Its Screwbisofts annual cash cow.

[uth11]

This will only happen if ACs sales plummet. It's Ubisoft's bread and butter