- Ubisoft reportedly canceled an Assassin’s Creed game featuring a Black Assassin during the post-Civil War period due to the political state of the US and backlash following Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ Yasuke
- The game would have primarily been set during the Reconstruction period and featured a Black man and former slave taking on the Ku Klux Klan
- Sources say it was canceled in July 2024 because the game would have been “Too political in a country too unstable”
Ubisoft reportedly canceled an Assassin’s Creed game that would have featured a Black protagonist set during the post-American Civil War period due to the current political state of the United States and backlash following Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ Yasuke.
That’s according to Game File, which reports that the game was canceled in July of 2024 and would have focused on the American Civil War, as well as the Reconstruction period that followed in the 1860s and 1870s.
Sources said that the Reconstruction-era game would have starred a Black man and former slave from the South who heads west to start a new life. The character would’ve been recruited by the Assassins, who would then return to the South to fight the Ku Klux Klan.
While the majority of the game would’ve been set in the Reconstruction Era, and dealt with matters such as the rights of former Black slaves, reintegration of former Confederate states into the US, racial violence, and the reemergence of white supremacy, a portion of the game would have also featured flashback sequences set during the Civil War.
The game was in the early concept stage at the Shadows studio, Ubisoft Quebec in Paris, before being scrapped in July of last year. Five current and former Ubisoft employees said the development team was enthusiastic about the project but frustrated when Ubisoft canceled it.
Three sources said that the game was canceled by Ubisoft management for two reasons: one being due to the online backlash Ubisoft received for Shadows‘ historically-inspired, Black samurai protagonist Yasuke, and the second being the tense political climate of the US.
“Too political in a country too unstable, to make it short,” one source told Game File.
“I was terribly disappointed but not surprised by leadership,” another source said. “They are making more and more decisions to maintain the political ‘status quo’ and take no stand, no risk, even creative.”
In September 2024, following Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ delay and amid the Yasuke backlash, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot shared a statement addressing the “polarized comments”.
“I want to reaffirm that we are an entertainment-first company, creating games for the broadest possible audience, and our goal is not to push any specific agenda,” Guillemot said at the time.
“We remain committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy.”
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