A teacher pulled out a PS5 in the middle of a history lesson, and the reason it worked better than any textbook has the internet completely split

A teacher went viral after bringing a PS5 into the classroom and using Assassin’s Creed Syndicate to teach students about the Industrial Revolution. The clip spread quickly online and started a big conversation about whether video games can be useful in education.

According to Dexerto, the video shows the teacher navigating the recreated streets of Victorian London inside the game. Students could see factories, worker conditions, and the scale of industrial growth in the game’s 1868 setting, which is right in the middle of the Industrial Revolution.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is set in a London shaped by steam power, new railways, and serious social inequality. The game is known for its historical detail, covering everything from industrial expansion to child labor and urban poverty. Instead of textbook images, the teacher could walk students through how the city looked and changed during that period.

Games like Assassin’s Creed are proving to be genuinely useful teaching tools, not just entertainment

Many viewers praised the approach online. One commenter said, “Brilliant! It’s this outside-the-box thinking that we need more of. Whether the kids want to admit it or not, they learned more that day, and it will stick with them than any other day, I bet.” Another replied, “Keeps kids’ attention and lets them somewhat experience the history visually in a medium they enjoy. Great idea.”

The Assassin’s Creed series has a reputation for recreating detailed historical settings, with games set in periods ranging from Ancient Egypt to Viking-era England. This focus on accuracy is what makes these games useful in a classroom setting. If you own a PS5, it is also worth knowing about a hidden storage setting that may be filling up your console without you realizing it.

This is not the first time a teacher has gone viral for using Assassin’s Creed as a teaching tool. Back in 2024, a middle school teacher used Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to teach students about the Battle of Thermopylae.

That lesson used the game to show the tactical landscape and historical context of the battle, something a map in a textbook cannot easily do. It gave students a visual and interactive way to understand a major historical conflict. 

Fans of gaming on console may also want to keep an eye on which platforms Don’t Scream is coming to and when it is expected to launch. These cases show that the Assassin’s Creed series has found a practical use in education beyond just being a popular game, and more teachers appear to be taking notice of that.