User blog comment:Master Sima Yi/Assassinews 08-02-'13 — Next game will be all new, plus DLC promotional material/@comment-3981209-20130210091548/@comment-2.91.13.138-20130211171625

Sima, I don't think they "gave up" on Altaïr due to his character, if anything he and his athletic skills were considered the best elements in AC1. It was probably due to the gameplay criticism and if they had released another Altaïr game it would not be anticipated well, so they decided to flip the table and commence ACII. Connor on the other hand, won't get a new game due to the criticism towards his character and not the gameplay like what happened with AC1 :)