Fearing Backlash, Ubisoft Allegedly Cancels Assassin's Creed Game Tackling Reconstruction Era

2025-10-08

Image credit: Photo by RK Lokesh on Unsplash

The Assassin’s Creed franchise has built its legacy on revisiting the most volatile and transformative moments in human history, from the Third Crusade to the French Revolution. Yet, a new report suggests that one of the most tumultuous periods in American history was deemed too controversial for the series. According to a credible leaker, Ubisoft has canceled a developing project set in the Reconstruction era, reportedly shelving a narrative centered on a formerly enslaved Black man out of fear of political backlash.

The report originates from French YouTuber 'j0nathan,' who has a reliable track record of accurate leaks concerning the Assassin's Creed franchise. According to his information, the canceled title, codenamed Project Nexus 2, was conceived as a follow-up to the VR game Assassin's Creed Nexus. The game would have cast players as a formerly enslaved protagonist who joins the Assassin Brotherhood in the years immediately following the American Civil War. His journey, sources claim, would have seen him directly confronting the Ku Klux Klan, embedding the series' central conflict within a raw and significant chapter of the nation's past.

However, this historically potent concept was allegedly halted by high-level executives at Ubisoft. The decision was reportedly not driven by development hurdles or creative challenges, but by apprehension over the "political turmoil in the U.S." and the potential for public controversy.

A key factor cited in this decision was the "online backlash" surrounding the upcoming Assassin's Creed Shadows. The inclusion of Yasuke, a historical Black samurai, as one of that game's two protagonists sparked a vocal, and often vitriolic, debate online. This reaction appears to have had a chilling effect within the publisher. "The online backlash to Yasuke in Shadows scared them," 'j0nathan' stated, suggesting that the experience with Shadows directly influenced the company's willingness to engage with another historically complex and racially charged narrative.

This alleged cancellation is being framed as part of a larger, more cautious strategy at Ubisoft. The leaker claims the publisher is becoming increasingly risk-averse, actively avoiding narratives that could be perceived as politically contentious. "They are making more and more decisions to maintain the political 'status quo' and take no stand," 'j0nathan' asserted. For a series that has explored themes of freedom, oppression, and power across centuries, such a stance would represent a fundamental shift in its creative mandate.

News of the canceled project has been met with significant disappointment online, with many in the community criticizing the alleged decision as an act of corporate cowardice. The sentiment reflected in coverage of the leak is one of a profound missed opportunity to tell a powerful and long-requested story. Critics argue that capitulating to a vocal minority over the Yasuke controversy sets a dangerous precedent, potentially limiting the creative scope of the franchise for years to come.

It is crucial to note that Ubisoft has not issued any official statement on the matter. The entire report stems from a single, albeit credible, source. Critical details—such as how far the project was in development, its intended scope, or the specific timeline of its cancellation—remain unknown. For now, the story of this lost chapter of Assassin's Creed exists only as a leak, a ghost of a game that might have been. But it has already ignited a necessary conversation about the courage required to tell history's most difficult stories and the corporate calculus that decides which of them are worth telling.