Assassin’s Creed Studio Axes Sequel To Breath Of The Wild-Like

The 2020 action-adventure game Immortals Fenyx Rising won’t be getting a sequel after all. Drawing clear inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the game seemed like the start of a fresh new franchise for Ubisoft, a company that’s struggled to ship new original hits. But a sequel has now been canceled internally as Assassin’s Creed studio Ubisoft Quebec shifts resources to other projects.

News of the cancellation was first reported by VGC and has since been independently corroborated by Kotaku’s sources. After initially declining to comment on “rumors and speculation,” Ubisoft backtracked and has now confirmed VGC’s report.

“As part of our global strategy, we are redirecting and reallocating some creative teams and resources within the Quebec studio to other unannounced projects,” a spokesperson for Ubisoft told VGC in a statement. “The expertise and technologies these teams developed will serve as an accelerator for the development of these key projects focused on our biggest brands. We have nothing further to share at this time.”

The first Immortals Fenyx Rising followed a young mortal hero as they rallied gods and legends from Greek mythology to take on the giant serpentine creature Typhon. The third-person action game featured lots of combat, puzzles, and open-world exploration. While clearly adapting many systems from modern open-world RPGs like sister-project Assassin’s Creedy Odyssey, its art style and vibrant mythological world added fresh twists that won over fans exhausted with the conventional Ubisoft map game.

It’s unclear why Ubisoft ultimately decided to shift resources away from the previously planned sequel. Ubisoft Quebec is also leading development on Assassin’s Creed Red, the next big open-world entry in the stealth series that will take place in Japan. Earlier this year, Ubisoft announced internal plans to double down on its biggest franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy as it faces its largest quarterly financial losses in company history. In May, Ubisoft revealed it would add another 800 developers to the Assassin’s Creed series even as it cuts staff and budgets elsewhere across its global chain of studios.