Reports are in that in 2024 Ubisoft quietly cancelled an Assassin’s Creed project set during the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War. The scoop—first reported by Game File—reveals that the publisher deemed the concept “too controversial” for the current climate. Sources familiar with the cancellation say the game would have followed a formerly enslaved Black man recruited by the Assassins. The narrative would have taken him back to the South to confront the rise of white supremacist violence, including conflict with the emerging Ku Klux Klan.

Multiple insiders allege two major factors led Ubisoft to pull the plug. First, the backlash around Yasuke as a Black protagonist in Assassin’s Creed Shadows earlier triggered online controversy. That reaction apparently made Ubisoft executives nervous about public sentiment. Second, internal leadership reportedly judged that the United States was too politically volatile at the moment. The subject matter—post-Civil War racial tensions and insurgent violence—was deemed a liability. One source bluntly put it: “Too political in a country too unstable.”

Although the concept had initial approval and some early development, it never made it past the concept phase. Ubisoft leadership in Paris is said to have halted further work mid-2024.

All signs point to cancellation being final—at least for now. The combination of public controversy, internal caution, and Ubisoft’s financial pressures makes resurrection unlikely. Still, in the video game world, ideas do get revived. If Ubisoft ever feels the political moment has changed, or if there’s less risk, the title could resurface in modified form.