Assassin's Creed Syndicate and the depiction of female "Britishness" in Victorian London

Andrew James Reid; Iain Donald; Hailey Austin; Fruzsina Pittner

doi:10.26503/dl.v2025i3.2620

Assassin's Creed Syndicate and the depiction of female "Britishness" in Victorian London

Andrew James Reid^*, Iain Donald, Hailey Austin, Fruzsina Pittner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Games and Arts

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

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Abstract

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Ubisoft Quebec 2015) is the ninth action-adventure title in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Set in Victorian London, the game mixes historical fiction with real-world historical events, people, and environments. This research utilizes an analytical framework developed by the authors (2020), to examine the setting and the backdrop of significant political and social change in nineteenth century Britain, including the role and agency of women in Victorian society. This study explores the depiction of lead – and supporting – female characters within Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and its reflection of Victorian “Britishness” (traditional, cultural, and social values embodied within Britain in the nineteenth century).

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Abstract proceedings of DIGRA 2025
Subtitle of host publication	games at the crossroads
Publisher	DiGRA
Pages	1-3
Number of pages	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.26503/dl.v2025i3.2620
Publication status	Published - 16 Jun 2025
Event	DiGRA 2025: Games at the Crossroads - University of Malta’s Valletta Campus, Valletta, Malta Duration: 30 Jun 2025 → 4 Jul 2025 Conference number: 16th https://digraconference2025.org/

Publication series

Name	DiGRA conference proceedings
Publisher	DiGRA
ISSN (Electronic)	2342-9666

Conference

Conference	DiGRA 2025
Country/Territory	Malta
City	Valletta
Period	30/06/25 → 4/07/25
Internet address	https://digraconference2025.org/

Keywords

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Historical games
Britishness
Representation
Victorian

Access to Document

10.26503/dl.v2025i3.2620Licence: Other

Reid_Assassin'sCreedSyndicate_Published_2025Final published version, 274 KBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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title = "Assassin's Creed Syndicate and the depiction of female {"}Britishness{"} in Victorian London",

abstract = "Assassin{\textquoteright}s Creed Syndicate (Ubisoft Quebec 2015) is the ninth action-adventure title in the Assassin{\textquoteright}s Creed franchise. Set in Victorian London, the game mixes historical fiction with real-world historical events, people, and environments. This research utilizes an analytical framework developed by the authors (2020), to examine the setting and the backdrop of significant political and social change in nineteenth century Britain, including the role and agency of women in Victorian society. This study explores the depiction of lead – and supporting – female characters within Assassin{\textquoteright}s Creed Syndicate and its reflection of Victorian “Britishness” (traditional, cultural, and social values embodied within Britain in the nineteenth century).",

author = "Reid, \{Andrew James\} and Iain Donald and Hailey Austin and Fruzsina Pittner",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2025 Authors \& Digital Games Research Association DiGRA. Personal and educational classroom use of this paper is allowed, commercial use requires specific permission from the author. Data availability statement: Not present.; DiGRA 2025 : Games at the Crossroads ; Conference date: 30-06-2025 Through 04-07-2025",

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language = "English",

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AU - Reid, Andrew James

AU - Donald, Iain

AU - Austin, Hailey

AU - Pittner, Fruzsina

N1 - Conference code: 16th

PY - 2025/6/16

Y1 - 2025/6/16

N2 - Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Ubisoft Quebec 2015) is the ninth action-adventure title in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Set in Victorian London, the game mixes historical fiction with real-world historical events, people, and environments. This research utilizes an analytical framework developed by the authors (2020), to examine the setting and the backdrop of significant political and social change in nineteenth century Britain, including the role and agency of women in Victorian society. This study explores the depiction of lead – and supporting – female characters within Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and its reflection of Victorian “Britishness” (traditional, cultural, and social values embodied within Britain in the nineteenth century).

AB - Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Ubisoft Quebec 2015) is the ninth action-adventure title in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Set in Victorian London, the game mixes historical fiction with real-world historical events, people, and environments. This research utilizes an analytical framework developed by the authors (2020), to examine the setting and the backdrop of significant political and social change in nineteenth century Britain, including the role and agency of women in Victorian society. This study explores the depiction of lead – and supporting – female characters within Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and its reflection of Victorian “Britishness” (traditional, cultural, and social values embodied within Britain in the nineteenth century).

U2 - 10.26503/dl.v2025i3.2620

DO - 10.26503/dl.v2025i3.2620

M3 - Conference contribution

T3 - DiGRA conference proceedings

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BT - Abstract proceedings of DIGRA 2025

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ER -

Assassin's Creed Syndicate and the depiction of female "Britishness" in Victorian London

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Keywords

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