Ubisoft cancels ‘Assassin’s Creed’ over political concerns

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Ubisoft reportedly cancelled a planned ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game set during and after the American Civil War, according to a new report by Game File.

The project, which was in early development, was described as one of the franchise’s most ambitious instalments before being halted by company leadership in mid-2024.

Five current and former Ubisoft employees told Game File that the game would have followed a formerly enslaved Black man from the American South who, after gaining freedom, moved west to start a new life.

The protagonist would later be recruited by the Assassins and return south to fight for justice during the Reconstruction period, confronting the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.

The same sources said the team working on the project was passionate about the story but disappointed by its cancellation, which they interpreted as a reaction to potential controversy.

According to three of those interviewed, management at Ubisoft’s Paris headquarters halted development last July following two key concerns.

The first was the online backlash earlier that year to the announcement of ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’, which features Yasuke, a historically inspired Black samurai, as one of its protagonists.

The second, sources claimed, was leadership’s fear that the game’s themes would be considered “too political” given the current political climate in the United States. “Too political in a country too unstable, to make it short,” one source told Game File.

While cancellations are common in large game studios, insiders said the reasoning behind this decision was unusual. Ubisoft has not commented publicly on the report or confirmed whether the concept could be revisited in the future.

The reported Civil War-era project would have been one of the most modern settings explored in the long-running Assassin’s Creed franchise.