Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag takes place during the 1700’s, and players take the role of Edward Kenway–seen above–who is actually Haytham Kenway’s father and grandfather to Connor (the protagonist in Assassin’s Creed III). Edward Kenway has been reputed to be a privateer, assassin, and also dabbles in piracy himself, hinting at a conflicting persona for a hero, as most of the protagonists in the series have had straight moral compasses.
Since the plot revolves around Edward Kenway, Assassin’s Creed IV may in fact be a prequel–even if indirect–and it will be interesting to see what developments Ubisoft makes in terms of story concepts and how they build around the Kenway family’s past.