[Rumor] Is Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag The Next AC Game?

Rumors have been starting to swirl concerning the next Assassin's Creed game. Yes, I know we just had one...but you know as well as I that's the way things work now.

Possibly entitled Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, the name was first spotted by a redditor on a plane who noticed a woman in front of him working on a powerpoint presentation. The presentation, which was described as “marketing strategies of several gaming titles” eventually came up upon the familiar name along with a 2013 release date.

But that's only one part of the story. Today, Kotaku was sent a photograph of the poster supposedly being used in the marketing for the game. It shows a ship deck crushing with pirate-type characters and -what looks like- the protagonist of ACIII standing in the center. Though these  two stories follow suit, I'm actually more sceptical due to the art style being used in the poster. Whereas Assassin's Creed games where always known for their hyper-realistic game covers and poster work, this one seems comic book in nature. And although I have my heart set on more ship-to-ship combat in my video games, I wouldn't really be surprised if that's where this is going.