Assassin's Creed Syndicate primarily depicts the year 1868.
The game is set in London during the Industrial Revolution, when factories, railways, expanding commerce, and severe class divisions reshaped the city. Its main story follows twin Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye as they challenge Templar control and criminal influence across London.
The campaign begins in 1868 and uses the city as a large open-world recreation of Victorian London. Major locations include Westminster, the City of London, Southwark, Whitechapel, and the Thames. The setting explains the game's emphasis on trains, carriages, industrial machinery, and grappling-hook traversal.
Syndicate is sometimes confused with Assassin's Creed Unity, which is set during the French Revolution in the late eighteenth century. It is also distinct from the later Jack the Ripper downloadable content, whose events occur in 1888.