Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series is staged around noteworthy historical time periods, which typically means the series looks beyond American shores. The United States is less than 300 years old, and that doesn't give us a ton of material to work with. Reportedly, though, Ubisoft wanted to tap into that well once more.
Recent reporting suggests that the French publisher was working on a game that would touch on the Civil War and the Reconstruction era, from the 1860s and 1870s, only to cancel the endeavor due to politics. For some, it's a disappointing if not spineless move on Ubisoft's part. I don't entirely blame the company, though.
As fans know, a handful of existing Assassin's Creed games are set in America and tackle fraught historical time periods. Assassin's Creed 3 takes place during the American Revolution, and spinoff Liberation unfolded in New Orleans around the end of the French and Indian War.
Game File's Stephen Totilo reports that the now-canceled Assassin's Creed game would have starred a formerly enslaved Black man as he attempts to start a new life. Somehow, he'd get roped into joining the assassins — and take on the KKK. The developers working on it were enthusiastic about it, and hoped that the game could show how racial tensions are used to control populations. But according to multiple sources who spoke to Game File, Ubisoft was uncomfortable with the backlash surrounding Assassin's Creed Shadows' Black samurai protagonist and concerned that the current political climate in America was too fraught.
Currently, the U.S. government seems intent on waging war on individual states based on the political allegiance of its respective local leaders — which also makes the topic of secession relevant right now. As ICE spreads its influence through force, racial tensions are at the forefront of public consciousness. Arguably, there's no better time for a game to explore a post-Civil War era. Despite Ubisoft's continual assertion that it does not make political games, Assassin's Creed has already tackled sensitive periods. Liberation, for example, has a Black woman protagonist who explores racial tensions through missions like the ones where players help slaves reach freedom. The storytelling attempts in Liberation weren't always sophisticated, but to Ubisoft's credit, most AAA publishers wouldn't touch similar topics with a 10-foot pole.
Shying away from a Black protagonist in a new game due to recent negative reception isn't just disappointing, it's baffling. The thing people had issue with is that a Black protagonist wouldn't "make sense" in a game set during Japan's samurai era. Whether you agree with that or not, I don't think anyone could argue that a Black protagonist from the Civil War era doesn't fit the theme.