Ubisoft cancels Reconstruction-era Assassin's Creed project

Ubisoft halted development last summer on an unannounced Assassin's Creed game set in the Reconstruction era of the United States, people familiar with the project said, citing concerns about the contemporary political climate and online backlash tied to another franchise entry. The shelved title would have followed a Black protagonist who had been enslaved, moved west after emancipation, and later joined the Assassin Brotherhood before returning to the South to confront injustice and the emerging Ku Klux Klan.

Three current and former employees said management in Paris decided to cancel the project in July. Sources described the decision as driven in part by negative online reaction to the reveal of a Black samurai character in the recently released Assassin's Creed Shadows, and by leadership assessments that the United States was too politically unstable for a game tackling Reconstruction-era racial violence and partisan tensions.

Developers and others close to the project expressed frustration at the decision. One person summarized the choice bluntly, saying the game was "too political in a country too unstable." Another said they were "terribly disappointed" and...