Assassin's Creed 4 director wants to take the series to ancient Egypt

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag director Ashraf Ismail has expressed a desire to take the time-and-space-hopping series to ancient Egypt.

Ismail spilled the beans on his wish in an interview with the Examiner. "I'm not saying we are going there, but one day I would love to explore Egypt as a setting for this game," he said. "Ancient Egypt could be a really cool place. We have a really cool explanation for how we can do this, and it is with this Animus device that allows us to go to anytime in history."

He noted that it's taken two and a half years to make Assassin's Creed 4 and the series is annualised, so even if Ismael's superiors grant him this wish, it wouldn't come to fruition until three more games down the line in 2016.

Ismail noted that he was surprised by the resistance to base Assassin's Creed 4 in an era prior to Assassin's Creed 3's civil war setting, but he said that being able to skip around in time and space is one of the series' best perks. "I would say one of the best things we have going for us is how we can play with history," he said. "It was never a set rule that we always get closer to the present day. We were a bit surprised by people who saying [sic], 'how do you go back in time, how's that possible?' It's that Animus device we have. But again, I'm not saying Egypt is where the next one is going, it's just where I would like it to go."

Back in November 2011 Ubisoft issued a survey asking the public where they'd like the next game in the series to go. The options were:

• The violent conflicts of the Imperial Dynasties in Medieval China
• The advent of the mighty British Empire during Victorian England
• The culmination of the Pharaoh Reign in Ancient Egypt
• The invasion of the Americas by the Spanish Conquistadors
• The confrontation between British colonists and native Americans during The American Revolution
• The overthrow of the Tsar Empire by the Communists during the Russian Revolution
• The Warlord Battles in Feudal Japan
• The rise of Cesar's Empire in Ancient Rome

Looking at this list I'm rather prone to Egypt as a suggestion. What about you?