Assassin's Creed has become a staple franchise of modern gaming since its inception in 2007. As Ubisoft's most lucrative series, it was quickly put into the dreaded annual release schedule, which produced some bumps along the road but helped establish the brand as a household name. With the series at a breaking point, Ubisoft eventually took a step back, reinventing the series as an open-world RPG and extending the release window to focus on quality.