Ubisoft Reportedly Canceled an Assassin’s Creed Title That Would Have Followed a Formerly Enslaved Black Assassin

Ubisoft reportedly canceled a highly ambitious new Assassin’s Creed game that would have taken players to post–Civil War America, according to multiple sources.

The game was set during the Reconstruction era of the 1860s and 1870s and would have followed a formerly enslaved Black man who moves west to start a new life.

Recruited by the Assassins, the character would return to the South to fight for justice, confronting the rise of the Ku Klux Klan along the way.

Five current and former Ubisoft employees spoke to Game File on the condition of anonymity, explaining that the project was canceled due to concerns over potential controversy. Ubisoft did not respond to requests for comment.

Three sources told Game File that management in Paris decided to halt development last July because of two main reasons.

One was backlash earlier that year over Assassin’s Creed: Yasuke, which featured a historically-inspired Black samurai as the protagonist. The other reason was concern over the tense political climate in the United States. “Too political in a country too unstable, to make it short,” one source said.

According to these sources, the game was still in its early stages. While game cancellations happen, the reasons behind this one were unusual.

Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, which followed Yasuke, had its own controversies but still performed well commercially.

Ubisoft reported that the game surpassed a million players on release day and reached three million within the first week. Steam data showed a peak of 41,412 concurrent players at launch, growing to 64,825 over the first weekend.

By July, the game had over 5 million unique players. Ubisoft also claimed that Shadows outperformed Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey in consumer spending and achieved the second-highest day-one sales revenue in the franchise’s history, behind only Valhalla.

However, independent analysts raised questions about these numbers. Rhys Elliott from market data firm Alinea Analytics noted that while Ubisoft reported two million players by March 2025, PlayStation 5 and Steam data suggested only about half of those players came from actual sales, with the rest accessing the game through subscription services.

The cancellation of this post–Civil War Assassin’s Creed game highlights the challenges developers face when tackling sensitive historical topics. Sources described the project as exciting and ambitious, making its shelving all the more frustrating for those involved.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!