Although it has been de-emphasized in later games, the early Assassin's Creed games heavily featured Abstergo Industries as a powerful and malevolent modern-day front for the Templars. Abstergo was originally central in connecting the present-day timeline in Assassin's Creed to the events of the past as lived through the Animus. While the past two games, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, focus mainly on the Order of the Ancients, a precursor group to the Templars, earlier Assassin's Creed games had a strong focus on the Templars' modern-day activities as Abstergo Industries. Shadowy, powerful organizations related to the Templars serve as the main villain for all the Assassin's Creed games, and Abstergo Industries represents how the actions of the past lives explored through the Animus affect the present. While the future role of Abstergo Industries in Assassin's Creed games is uncertain, the series does have an alternative timeline of human history where Abstergo Industries play a central role in human development.
As mentioned, Abstergo Industries is enormously powerful and has a far-reaching influence. It's existed since 1937, and within Assassin's Creed lore, it is responsible for, or directly involved in, a number of major political developments of the 20th Century. As a front for the Templars, Abstergo Industries' main goals are defeating the Assassins and bringing about the New World Order. In essence, Abstergo represents the Templars branching out into using capitalism as a means of control, and this remains a significant point in the Assassin's Creed timeline as this eventually leads to the creation of the Animus. Abstergo Industries was not just a leading technology company but is also one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world which further emphasizes its reach and power within the games.
Emergence and Growth During the 20th Century
In the Assassin's Creed universe, both Henry Ford and Ransom Eli Olds were part of the Templar Order, and the assembly line represents the beginning of Templars exploring the potential of capitalism as a means of control. Naturally, the company was staunchly anti-communist, although it stayed relatively quiet during World War 2 (although both Hitler and Stalin were under Templar control in the games' canon). However, the Templars used this time to prepare Abstergo to dominate after the war. Once the war does end, Abstergo's power and influence begin to grow rapidly, although it remained mostly in the shadows until the turn of the 21st century.
During this time, Abstergo Industries was involved in a number of defining moments from the 20th Century, including the Kennedy Assassination, the formation of NASA and the Moon Landing in 1969, and the death of Henry Dexter White. Abstergo Industries was also involved in many political shifts during the 20th Century, mainly in South America, but it has also been known to intervene in Middle-Eastern political affairs. In particular, Abstergo was greatly involved in Argentinian and Chilean politics during the 1970s. The Templars have loftier goals than political control though, and so it continued to research and develop a variety of technologies, including what would later become the Animus. While Abstergo Industries was committed to technological development, this is only so the New World Order can be achieved, and within the Assassin's Creed universe they actively stifled other technological advances, such as its role in Alan Turing's criminal prosecution and possibly, his death.
Abstergo Industries in the 21st Century
Throughout the 21st Century, Abstergo retains secret political control of the US, and in the year 2000 enacted an operation known as the Great Purge. The Great Purge is a major defeat for the Assassins, and they are forced deeper into hiding. There are references in the games to Abstergo Industries conducting surveillance through televisions and suppressing any media that could harm the company. In 2012, Alan Rikkin becomes CEO of Abstergo, who worked on the Animus Project with Lucy Stillman and Warren Vidic. However, Abstergo suffers two major setbacks after this, namely the loss of an Apple of Eden, and a scandal over the production of one of the company's drugs.
These setbacks didn't slow Abstergo down though, as they quickly made plans to use the Animus to locate another piece of Eden. All Abstergo needed then was a new subject for the Animus following the death of Clay Kaczmarek, and here's where Desmond Miles enters the picture and the modern-day timeline of the games begins. As players will know, Desmond eventually protects another Apple of Eden from falling into Templar's hands; after this, Abstergo is forced to cancel its planned launch of the Eye-Abstergo satellite, which was intended to control the world and enforce the New World Order.
What Happened to Abstergo?
In the Assassin's Creed, Abstergo Industries is depicted as a well-established and powerful company, with a long history, as detailed above. The sections of the games in the past then gave context for how this massive power came to be, tracing its roots all the way back to the Order of the Ancients. In this respect, rather than giving context for the present day, Assassin's Creed games have leaned heavily into exploring those roots rather than the company's ongoing dealings. As such, there haven't been many clues as to what happened to the company after the failed Eye-Abstergo launch. Layla Hassan, the series' current modern-day protagonist is a former Abstergo Industries employee, although she since has become an enemy of the Templar.
Its generally accepted that Ubisoft is choosing purposefully to move away from the modern-day storyline concerning Abstergo Industries, to make the game more accessible to new players. As it is, Assassin's Creed lore is very dense with each game introducing new time periods and engaging with new mythological figures. As such, whether Abstergo Industries might figure into future Assassin's Creed games remains unclear. However, there is certainly a wealth of material and established lore for Ubisoft to incorporate into future games in the series, including giving the company a definite end as right now it is unknown what happens after Desmond Miles.