Ubisoft Reportedly Canceled an Assassin’s Creed Set After the American Civil War for Being Too Political

According to a report published by Game File and written by journalist Stephen Totilo, Ubisoft allegedly canceled the development of a new and ambitious Assassin’s Creed title in July of last year, while the project was still in its early stages.

Sources cited by the publication state that the game was set during the American Civil War and the following Reconstruction period (1865–1877), a crucial chapter in U.S. history marked by the fall of the Confederacy, the abolition of slavery, and the expansion of civil rights for African Americans.

The Setting and Storyline of the Canceled Game

In this historical context, the protagonist would have been a Black man, a former slave from the South, who began a new life before being recruited by the Assassins. His mission would have taken him back to the places of his past oppression, where he would fight for justice and confront threats such as the rising Ku Klux Klan.

It was an intriguing setting and a powerful narrative premise, potentially capable of exploring important historical and social themes. However, the boldness of the project, which reportedly was progressing with enthusiasm, seems to have led to its cancellation.

According to internal sources, Ubisoft decided to halt development for two main reasons: the online backlash surrounding Yasuke, the Black samurai protagonist of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and the increasingly tense political climate in the United States.

“Too political in a country too unstable, to make it short,” summarized one source close to the project.

Based on these reports, the cancellation was not due to the game’s quality, which appeared promising, but to external factors. Was it the right Assassin’s Creed at the wrong time? We may never know for sure. As always, this information should be treated cautiously until official confirmation is provided.