Assassin's Creed III is a 2012 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the fifth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and a direct sequel to 2011's Assassin's Creed Revelations. The game was released worldwide for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, beginning in North America on October 30, 2012, with a Wii U and Microsoft Windows release in November 2012. A remastered version of the game was released in 2019 for Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, and in 2021 for Google Stadia. The game's 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. The framing story is set in the 21st century and features series protagonist Desmond Miles using a machine known as the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestors and find a way to avert the 2012 apocalypse. The main narrative is set in 18th-century Colonial America from 1754 to 1783, and follows two characters whose stories are interconnected: Haytham Kenway, a British Templar who attempts to build a presence for his Order in the colonies during the French and Indian War; and Ratonhake:ton / Connor, Haytham's half-Mohawk son, who becomes an Assassin to protect his people and avenge his mother's death, and battles the Templars' attempts to influence the outcome of the American Revolution. Online multiplayer returns in this installment, developed by Ubisoft Annecy. Along with returning modes, new ones feature a co-operative mode named Wolfpack, in which 1–4 players are charged with killing certain NPCs within a time limit, through a sequence of 25 stages. It features Domination, a team mode where players will have to capture certain areas of the map, protecting them from the opposing team. Ubisoft announced that the multiplayer servers for Assassin's Creed III, alongside several other of their older titles, would be shut down on September 1, 2022. The date was later delayed to October 1, 2022. The Remastered version of the game features revamped mechanics. Players can whistle from anywhere while hidden, whereas the original version only allowed whistling from corners. Double assassinations have been improved so as not to require entering high-profile mode to do so. Free aiming with ranged weapons was made possible, allowing Connor more control over his bow and pistols. The mini-map and the UI were upgraded with better-looking and easier-to-recognize icons for ease of accessibility, figuring out where enemies will point next and features color-blind modes. The crafting system and the economy system were also vastly upgraded. The game's lighting system has been upgraded to resemble the new technology implemented in Assassin's Creed Origins, and the textures have been revamped to resemble those seen in the Assassin's Creed games utilizing the more advanced AnvilNext 2.0 engine.