Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag confirmed

Rumors have been circling the net for a few weeks now on the next Assassin's Creed. Instead of controlling the leaked info, Ubisoft decided to just officially announce it - The next Assassin's Creed is Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC.

It's a bit odd that they are quickly moving on to the fourth with just a year gap with the third. Not much information is given so far, all we get is confirmation and the box art suggesting a new assassin character, pirate themed, and the setting to be in the Caribbean? The box art for the PS3 also confirms exclusive 60 minutes of extra content, similar to before.

In Assassin's Creed 3, it featured amazing naval battles, and it looks like we'll be getting more of that in the next game.  Ubisoft does promise more information about the game next week,

Is it too soon? Is the publisher squeezing whatever's left in this franchise? With the industry slowly entering the next generation, I'm surprised Ubisoft is still pushing a yearly release for Assassin's Creed. I won't say more until we get more info, but I do wish they tone it down a bit before the series just dies out from constant use.

You can see the box art of each platform below

[Source: GameInformer, Gamatsu]