Ubisoft reportedly scrapped one of its boldest Assassin’s Creed projects yet. We are talking about a post-Civil War story about a freed slave turned Assassin, hunting members of the Ku Klux Klan across the Reconstruction-era South.
The information was shared by outlet gamefiles.news and is supposed to come from an insider at Ubisoft.
A Daring Concept That Never Saw the Light
The idea first surfaced in an interview with former Assassin’s Creed creative director Marc-Alexis Côté, who confirmed the concept was pitched internally but never greenlit. According to early notes, the game would have explored themes of justice, revenge, and identity in the wake of America’s most turbulent conflict.
- Set in the post-Civil War era
- Featured a former slave joining the Assassins
- Players would fight the emerging KKK
- Leadership canceled it after concerns with the current U.S. political climate & Yasuke backlash
Instead, Ubisoft moved forward with other entries, leaving this powerful, politically charged idea to fade into the vault.
Why Players Are Actually Furious
Once the story broke, Assassin’s Creed fans took to Reddit and social media to vent their frustration. Many called it a “massive missed opportunity” and accused Ubisoft of avoiding the kind of risky, socially charged stories that once made the franchise special.
“They’ll let me assassinate the Pope, but not racists?” one fan joked.
“This could’ve been the Red Dead Redemption 2 of Assassin’s Creed,” another wrote.
Others noted that the concept could have given the series a unique setting and tone, something far removed from the safer, mythological direction of recent entries like Valhalla and Mirage.
Why It Could Have Worked
The Reconstruction era is rarely explored in games, despite its mix of chaos, hope, and power struggles. A freed slave joining the Brotherhood could have opened space for a much deeper storytelling about freedom, trauma, and rebuilding identity after war.
Compared to Red Dead Redemption 2 or Mafia III, both of which tackled racial and moral tension in post-war America, this Assassin’s Creed could have stood out as a bold, human story within Ubisoft’s own formula of stealth, history, and rebellion.
But with the studio now focusing on safer projects like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, or more Mythological titles like the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Hex, on top of live-service spin-offs, it is unclear if we will ever see Ubisoft take such a creative risk again.
Ubisoft’s Missed Opportunity to Bring Back the Franchise to Its Former Glory
Ubisoft has always balanced historical fantasy with modern sensitivity, but this cancellation feels different. Players are not just disappointed about a lost setting. They are upset about what it represents: a company stepping back from hard-hitting stories in favor of safer, market-tested worlds.
And for a franchise built on the idea of “nothing is true, everything is permitted,” that might be the real tragedy.
