A bold creative idea for Assassin’s Creed was reportedly scrapped — and the reason might surprise you. According to new insider revelations, Ubisoft once planned a post–Civil War installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, but the game never saw the light of day. The alleged reason? It was deemed “too political” for the current climate — a move already sparking heated debates among fans and critics alike. But here’s where it gets even more intriguing...
Industry journalist Stephen Totilo recently shared insight into this mysterious cancellation through his Game File newsletter, confirming that the unreleased title was set during the Reconstruction era that followed the American Civil War. The project, in development by Ubisoft Quebec, centered on a formerly enslaved Black man who joins the Brotherhood of Assassins in pursuit of freedom and justice. The protagonist’s journey would have taken him westward to begin anew, only to be drawn back South into a struggle against rising injustices — including a confrontation with the Ku Klux Klan’s emergence.
According to one of Totilo’s sources, Ubisoft executives felt the project was “too political in a country too unstable” at the time to comfortably release it. This decision reportedly came well before the election of Donald Trump to a second term, but possibly around the period of the first assassination attempt against a sitting U.S. president — adding yet another layer of tension and uncertainty to the political atmosphere the company sought to avoid.
The cancellation also appears to connect indirectly to backlash surrounding another Assassin’s Creed title: Assassin’s Creed Shadows. When Ubisoft unveiled its trailer in May 2024, some conservative critics and online commentators — including Elon Musk — branded the game as “too woke.” Their complaints largely revolved around Yasuke, a Black samurai based on a real historical figure brought to Japan by Jesuit missionaries.
Historians, however, pushed back against those criticisms. Thomas Lockley, professor and author of African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, reminded skeptics that historical documentation on samurai status is sparse. “There’s no piece of paper that says Yasuke was a samurai,” he told The Japan Times. “But then there’s no piece of paper that says anybody else was a samurai either.” His comments aimed to highlight how easily the conversation around representation in games can spiral into controversy rather than curiosity.
And despite all the noise, Assassin’s Creed Shadows triumphed — surpassing five million players by July 2025, just three months after its debut. The success demonstrated that bold storytelling and diverse representation clearly resonate with a massive global audience, even when the internet protests otherwise.
But here’s the big question: should game studios avoid politically charged settings to dodge controversy, or should they lean into difficult historical truths for the sake of authenticity? Was Ubisoft right to shelve a game set in one of America’s most turbulent eras — or did it miss a chance to create something groundbreaking? Share your thoughts — would you have played this ‘too political’ Assassin’s Creed game?
