In the Assassin's Creed franchise, there is a major war between the Assassin Brotherhood and Templar Order. On one end, the Templars want to subjugate the masses by taking away their free will. However, the Assassins strive for humanity to live freely. After losing their grip in the modern age, the Templars use their business front, Abstergo Industries, to create Abstergo Entertainment. Then, using the memories of Desmond Miles, they create video games based on the previous Assassin's Creed titles.
Abstergo's first big release was based on Assassin's Creed: Liberation and kickstarted an initiative born out of the rest of Desmond's DNA. In Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, players gain more context on the company and learn how they create and market their titles. It acts as both a meta-commentary on how games are tested and marketed while being an in-universe explanation of how the Templars change the narrative so they appear as heroes to the public.
Once Abstergo Entertainment gained more traction, they released a video game called "Pirates of Nightmares" and a film called "Devils of the Caribbean." Both entries focus on Edward Kenway, but rather than experience the story as it's presented in Black Flag, the in-universe game includes a heavily-doctored version of history. Thanks to Abstergo, certain aspects of the First Civilization and the Templar and Assassin War are changed or omitted entirely. Kenway's story is also spliced together with another pirate named Alonzo Batilla to help fill in the gaps of Kenway's story that reveal too much.
By altering the story to make the Templars seem more heroic, the company creates more sympathizers to their cause. The Assassin and Templar War is fought in the shadows, and because of that, it's easy to convince people that what is false is true. This also serves as meta-commentary on how censorship and propaganda have been weaponized throughout history to convince average citizens that they are the good guys -- no matter how much of a lie that is.
Since its first hit, Abstergo Entertainment has released new content, with its most recent title "Rebellion" tying into the film's main assassin, Aguilar De Nerha. Black Flag also confirms plans to create "sample collection" sites for people to give DNA to create even more adventures for the masses. In reality, this is a genius way for Templars to find even more Pieces of Eden or hints to the First Civilization.
Abstergo Entertainment shows how Ubisoft and the Assassin's Creed franchise aren't afraid to make things seem realistic to keep the immersion alive. Creating a video game company within a video game shows how the Templars change the narratives of the stories players are actively experiencing. Through this, the games have been making a larger point about history and how the people telling the stories have a vast amount of influence over who is seen as a hero or a villain, whether it's accurate or not.
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