Ubisoft Reportedly Cancels Assassin's Creed Game Set in Post-Civil War Era US

According to reports, Ubisoft has cancelled an Assassin's Creed game that was set to take place in the US during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, citing online backlash against the protagonist of Shadows, Yasuke, and the increasingly charged political climate in the US. The game, which was allegedly in its conceptual phase, would have followed a formerly enslaved Black man who joins a group of assassins to fight for justice, including confronting the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. Sources close to the matter claim that the decision to cancel the game was made by Ubisoft's management in Paris last July, with one source expressing disappointment but not surprise at the decision, stating that the company is increasingly avoiding risk and maintaining a neutral stance. Ubisoft declined to comment on the report. This news comes after the company implemented an anti-harassment plan for developers who worked on Shadows, and discouraged employees from sharing their involvement on social media to avoid online harassment.