Ever since Assassin’s Creed 2, fans have been theorycrafting and posting ideas on subreddits about where the Assassin’s Creed franchise could go next. As soon as the possibility to move to new time periods was made real, every fan had their own unique suggestions. Iconic moments in world history like World War 2, Feudal Japan, the Mongolian Empire, The Bolshevik Revolution, and many more have been requested by fans; however, at least in terms of world history, not all time periods fit the Assassin’s Creed framework well.
For every moment in world history that has the potential to make a great Assassin’s Creed game, there’s always one setting that just wouldn’t mesh well with the series. There are some modern and ancient civilizations that just don’t have many opportunities for social stealth or the RPG-style mechanics in games like Odyssey and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. These could change in the far future, but for now, there are several time periods that just wouldn’t mesh well with the Assassin’s Creed formula in its current state.
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The American Wild West probably would be a big no go for an Assassin’s Creed time period, despite how many would want it. The main thing is there’s not many aspects of the old American west that would translate well into Ubisoft’s franchise, as the Wild West is typically characterized by wide open expanses, or quaint and small towns with small populations. Now for a western game like Red Dead Redemption, having long expanses and vistas without much civilization makes sense.
A game like Assassin’s Creed, even when not factoring in the social-stealth mechanics that the series is known for, the Wild West just doesn’t make sense. Everyone knows everyone in small town America, so assassinations become much harder to implement naturally, and frankly wouldn’t make for interesting gameplay anyway.
Similarly, that same problem applies with early American wars for Assassin’s Creed. With the exception of Assassin’s Creed 3‘s American Revolution setting, conflicts like any of the subsidiaries of the American Indian Wars, the War of 1812, any of the various naval skirmishes like the Barbary Wars, and other armed rebellions and conflicts just wouldn’t make sense from a gameplay perspective. There’s just not many famous espionage moments during these conflicts, and they don’t hold much significance in world history compared to just US history.
All of these moments in early American history are short-lived skirmishes or large-scale armed conflicts, none of which are conducive for any meaningful assassinations. There’s just not much opportunity for stealth or social assassinations during these time periods, plus the American Revolution covers this area pretty well.
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Some fans have posited that the ancient Aztec civilizations may be a good fit for Assassin’s Creed. While the franchise has visited other ancient civilizations before in Odyssey and Origins, Assassin’s Creed doesn’t need to visit early Aztec society. Granted the series has visited Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt previously, but those were advanced civilizations that once again were more conducive for assassinations and political intrigue. Aztec history is largely conceptual and macrocosmic, as there’s only a few major political leaders from city-states known from the Aztec Empire.
Although there’s potential for a unique story about the conflict between the Aztecs and Spanish conquistadors, Assassin’s Creed likely won’t visit early Central America anytime soon. There are plenty of other larger time periods the series would visit beforehand, ones with more stories with more concise info and a less grueling history.
Generally modern warfare hasn’t been a prominent time period in Assassin’s Creed. Assassin’s Creed 3 and Unity had some modern history and present day flair, but centering an entire mainline game around a modern armed conflict invites too many comparisons. Any of the World Wars or the Vietnam War specifically (Cold War is a different story) would be too focused on the gunfights and skirmishes. Gameplay would likely revolve around guns more, a la Watch Dogs, than traditional Assassin’s Creed.
There is some potential, but employing Assassin’s Creed stealth in a situation where Call of Duty gunplay makes more sense is problematic. Even in Ubisoft’s repertoire alone, there are numerous shooters like Ghost Recon or The Division that would lend themselves more to World War 1/2 more than Assassin’s Creed would.
The same goes for any modern history in general, as Assassin’s Creed really only has a few options there. Mainly the Cold War would probably be the biggest example. A Cold War Assassin’s Creed game has been the subject of rumors before, but frankly even that time period would require a lot of country hopping between the US and Russia. Either that or the game would need to take place from the perspective of an Assassin from one of those countries.
There’s plenty of political intrigue throughout the Cold War for Assassin’s Creed to capitalize on, but the scope would have to make it the biggest game in the series. Cold War history has a lot going on in those few decades that can’t possibly be centralized on one continent the whole time. Frankly, Assassin’s Creed will probably tackle the Cold War at some point, but there’s plenty of early world history to explore first that’s more centralized.
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