During Ubisoft's quarterly financial conference call for investors and analysts, Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot talked about the development philosophy behind Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and the review scores awarded to the game.

Here's a summary of what he said:

• Assassin's Creed Syndicate doesn't have multiplayer, and the "vast majority of the players are are very very happy," with some saying that multiplayer was creating issues in previous games. That doesn't mean that multiplayer is not good, according to Ubisoft (as they're "pushing it very hard" with other games), yet the impression from customers for Assassin's Creed and Far Cry is that single player is what they like the most in the experience.
• The review scores received by Assassin's Creed: Syndicate were "actually very high," There were some average ones, but the big outlets gave the game good scores. Word of mouth is working in favor of the game because it's a "wonderful product"
• Asked about whether annual releases could eventually damage the franchise or not, Guillemot mentioned that Ubisoft is working with its best teams to create the best games, and that helps them to release Assassin's Creed titles regularly.
• Ubisoft took a "prudent" approach with Assassin's Creed this year, as there was only one game instead of two, and only on new generation platforms.

Personally, I'm quite happy to see a publisher moving away from the "multiplayer at all costs" philosophy. Say what you want about annual releases and scores, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.