The framing story is set in the 21st century and depicts the player as an employee of Abstergo Industries (a company used as a front by the modern-day Templars), who becomes caught in their conflict with the Assassins. The plot is set in a fictional history of real-world events and follows the millennia-old struggle between the Assassins, who fight to preserve peace and free will, and the Templars, who desire peace through control. It was later re-released on the Nintendo Switch as part of The Rebel Collection alongside Assassin's Creed Rogue in December 2019.
Black Flag was originally released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in October 2013 and a month later for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. Its historical timeframe precedes that of Assassin's Creed III (2012), but its modern-day sequences succeed III 's own.
It is the sixth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is an action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft.
