How Ubisoft quietly made Far Cry an annual franchise, and why no one's mad

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Far Cry could be the next Assassin’s Creed.

“Annual franchise” has become a bit of dirty word for gamers. For many, it represents a cynical drive from publishers to release as much of a popular series as possible, even at the cost of quality. For years, the term was largely only associated with sports games like Madden, but now megahit franchises like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed see yearly releases as well.