Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Lore & Background

The plot is set in a fictional history of real-world events and follows the millennia-old struggle between the Assassins and Templars. The framing story is set in the 21st century, where the player is an employee of Abstergo Industries, a front for the modern-day Templars, manipulated into uncovering secrets about the Assassin–Templar conflict and the First Civilization. The main story is set in the West Indies during the Golden Age of Piracy from 1715 to 1722, following Edward Kenway as he searches for fortune and the Observatory, a location sought by both Assassins and Templars. A major plot element concerns the attempted establishment of an independent Pirate republic in the Caribbean.

Reader's Guide

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is generally considered one of the greatest video games ever made, receiving critical acclaim and becoming one of the best-selling games of 2013 with over 11 million copies sold as of 2014. Critics praised the open world gameplay, naval combat, side-quests, graphics, narrative, characters, and pirate theme. The modern-day story and combat received a slightly more mixed response, while criticism fell on aspects of the historical story missions considered repetitive. The game won the Spike VGX 2013 award for Best Action Adventure Game. It was followed by Assassin's Creed Rogue and Assassin's Creed Unity in November 2014. A remake, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, was released on July 9, 2026.

Did You Know?

• The game features three main cities: Havana, Kingston, and Nassau, under Spanish, British, and pirate influence respectively.
• The Jackdaw, a brig captured from a Spanish fleet, is the ship captained by Edward Kenway.
• A downloadable content pack, Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry, follows Adéwalé, Edward's former quartermaster who became an Assassin.