Key Highlights:
- Ubisoft has cancelled ‘Project Scarlet’, an in-development Assassin’s Creed title.
- The game had you play as a slave going against the Ku Klux Klan.
- This sets a bad precedent that could affect future titles such as GTA 6.
Ubisoft has most certainly seen better days as of late, with the gaming giant suffering from both poor critical reception of its titles, as well as some rather unfortunately low sales to go along with it as well. This caused a massive restructuring at Ubisoft, which also resulted in a shift in the timeline across multiple projects.
A recent leak seems to suggest that Ubisoft was indeed working on an unannounced Assassin’s Creed title set after the Civil War, but it was quietly shut down after concerns of the current ‘political climate’, among other reasons, which could in turn affect upcoming games such as GTA 6.
Ubisoft Had a Post Civil War Assassin’s Creed Game in the Works
As detailed by Stephen Totilo of Game File, Ubisoft had a post Civil War themed Assassin’s Creed game in the works. The title was knee deep in development, before being ultimately canned for a variety of reasons.
As per the leak, the unnamed Assassin’s Creed title would follow a slave as its protagonist, who would return to the South of post Civil War America to confront and combat the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.
Development was also mentioned to be going rather smoothly, with the team mentioning that they were ‘pleased’ with the current direction and progression of the project. This title was also codenamed as ‘Project Scarlet’ internally, as per Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson.
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Before its cancellation though, Project Scarlet was set to be the next mainline RPG for the AC franchise.
Ubisoft had been mentioned to have cancelled the project amidst concerns over the current US ‘political climate’, which was further bolstered by the fact that Yasuke (one of the dual protagonists of Assassin’s Creed Shadows) was rather negatively received by a significant portion of the player base.
Ubisoft is far from the only publisher set to launch a controversial new title though, but this sudden cancellation could set a very bad precedent for newer releases, resulting in a tide of censorship.
GTA 6 Could Also Be Forced to Make Some Tough Decisions, in Light of Recent Events
Ubisoft isn’t the only publisher that might have to reconsider its release strategy, in light of recent political events surrounding the US, as Rockstar Games’ GTA 6 might be next in the line of fire.
GTA has always bordered on satirical content, which has often been too ‘on the nose’. Given the current situation of the US (and also the entire world), a small misstep could very well doom the franchise, or at the very least push it into a series of controversies.
This was also mentioned by Dan Houser, who previously worked at Rockstar Games as its lead writer for multiple GTA titles, as well as the likes of Bully and Red Dead Redemption. Speaking out, Houser mentioned that he was ‘thankful’ that GTA 6 wouldn’t be released during a Trump presidency, a statement that has aged rather poorly.
After all, GTA 6 is scheduled to be released in 2026, the second year of the Trump presidency, after multiple delays and rescheduling.
Houser’s concerns aren’t exactly unfounded though – people are going to be upset over even the slightest change, as anyone would have noticed in the past year or so. Given GTA’s tongue-in-cheek nature and heavy satire of American culture, this could irk the wrong crowd, casting aside ‘woke’ allegations and the like.
While it still remains unlikely that GTA 6 will face a complete ban or even a series of transformative changes on release, it is most certainly going to stir the pot, resulting in a debate that could shake the whole video game industry.
