A bold creative vision of Assassin’s Creed was shut down — and the reason might spark heated debate. According to newly revealed details, Ubisoft once planned a game set during America’s Reconstruction era, right after the Civil War. But here’s where it gets controversial — the project never saw the light of day because it was considered “too political” for the current climate.
Industry insider Stephen Totilo, via his Game Files newsletter, reports that this ambitious title was being developed at Ubisoft Quebec. Players would have stepped into the role of a formerly enslaved Black man who, after moving west to rebuild his life, joins the Brotherhood of Assassins. His journey would eventually take him back to the South, where he’d stand against injustice and face the rise of the Ku Klux Klan — a storyline brimming with conflict, cultural tensions, and historical resonance.
One insider summed it up this way: the game was "too political in a country too unstable." What makes the timing intriguing is that it was canceled well before Donald Trump’s second presidential term, but possibly near the first attempt on the life of the sitting U.S. president.
Ubisoft’s concern didn’t exist in a vacuum. When the company released its Assassin’s Creed Shadows trailer in May 2024, a wave of online backlash followed. The criticism — amplified by conservative commentators and even Elon Musk — took aim at the game’s protagonist Yasuke, a Black samurai based on a real historical figure brought to Japan by Jesuit missionaries. Detractors called the game “woke,” questioning Yasuke’s authenticity. But academic voices like Thomas Lockley, author of African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, pushed back strongly, noting: “There’s no piece of paper that says Yasuke was a samurai. But then there’s no piece of paper that says anybody else was a samurai either.”
Despite the heated debate, Assassin’s Creed Shadows proved its appeal — surpassing five million players just three months after its launch in July 2025. And this is the part most people miss: Ubisoft’s canceled Reconstruction-era game could have been an equally groundbreaking moment for the franchise, blending real history with bold storytelling. But in our polarized world, was this creative risk simply too hot to handle?
What do you think — should historical games push boundaries and tackle controversial subjects, even if they risk backlash? Or is steering clear of divisive political narratives the safer path for big studios?
