The gaming industry is flush with sales and financial reports this time of year, with the financial cycle for last year ending on March 31. Ubisoft released some news and financial reports, including sales of individual titles, and the numbers for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag are worth noting.
Assassin's Creed Franchise Sales Total Over 73 Million
The title's sales, while still very impressive compared to most games that ever release, actually represent a downturn compared to Assassin's Creed III. Black Flag sold 11 million units according to Game Informer--plenty of copies--but that number lags behind its predecessor by about 1.5 million.
The discrepancy isn't a real sign to worry, but does perhaps hint at some fatigue for the franchise. Assassin's Creed titles have released at least annually for years, flooding the market with the franchise and perhaps making every release a bit less exciting. Black Flag may have been the unfortunate recipient of the effects of those constant releases, but it's a very good game on its own--much more well-received than Assassin's Creed III.
Even more entries into the franchise are planned as we first learned from a leak, which quickly became an official announcement. Assassin's Creed Unity is the next due out on both last and current generation consoles, a game set during the French Revolution.
These constant releases have at least served a purpose for Ubisoft: its report reveals that Assassin's Creed is the fourth biggest property in gaming over the last nine years, trailing behind only Call of Duty, Mario, and EA's FIFA.
That means the free-roaming action game is a monstrous financial commodity, but hopefully the quality of the titles won't suffer. The series took a dip with AC III, but the pirate-themed Black Flag was a surprisingly great return to form--one of the most well reviewed titles of last year. Hopefully Ubisoft values the critical reception more highly than the slightly lagging sales and continues to move the franchise in the direction of the latest release.