Ubisoft has reportedly abandoned the Assassin's Creed game, set after the American Civil War, due to the “online backlash” to Yasuke in the Shadows and the “increasingly tense” political climate in the US.
This is according to Game filewhich spoke to five “current and former Ubisoft employees” who anonymously shared information.
The game, which was said to be in development, was set during the Reconstruction period of the 1860s and 1870s.
Its protagonist was to be a formerly enslaved black man recruited by killers “to fight for justice in a conflict that would, among other things, force him to confront the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.”
Three sources said they learned of the game's cancellation in July last year.
They claimed that management in Paris stopped development due to “Online reaction” to Shadows protagonist Yasuke – based on the black samurai who served Oda Nobunaga during Japan's Sengoku period – and fears that “the political climate in the US was becoming increasingly tense.”
One source said they were “terribly disappointed but not surprised by management” for canceling the project.
“They are making more and more decisions to maintain the political ‘status quo’ without taking any position, taking any risks, not even creative ones,” the source said.
GamesIndustry.biz reached out to Ubisoft, but the firm declined to comment on the Game File report.
Earlier this year it was reported that Ubisoft has implemented an “anti-harassment plan” for the developers who worked on Shadows.
The anonymous employee also reported that those who worked on the game were discouraged from sharing their contributions on social media to avoid harassment.
In response, Ubisoft released a statement clarifying that its “top priority is security [its] employees.”
“Our position has always been that team members' social media channels are their own,” it said.
“Our top priority is the safety of our people, including online, so as standard practice at Ubisoft we offer guidance on social media navigation, digital safety and supporting the well-being of team members.
“We are also sharing resources to help prevent and protect against online harassment, which our teams have unfortunately experienced.”
