Assassin’s Creed franchise boss Marc-Alexis Côté has departed Ubisoft after more than two decades with the company, having most recently overseen the development and launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
According to a statement given to IGN by Ubisoft itself, Côté, who is affectionately known as “Mac” inside Ubisoft thanks to his initials, has “chosen to pursue a new path elsewhere outside of Ubisoft”.
His decision follows the setup of a brand new company, Vantage Studios, to handle some of Ubisoft’s most profitable IP, including Assassin’s Creed. The company is headed up by Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot, leading to accusations of nepotism since the latter is the son of Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot.
Per IGN, in an internal Ubisoft memo, Derennes told staff that he was “disappointed” by Côté’s departure and that Côté “had his own expectations and priorities related to Vantage Studios’ creation and future”.
That’s not much to go on, but it sounds as though Côté may have butted heads with Derennes and Guillemot over the direction of either Vantage Studios as an entity or Assassin’s Creed as a franchise (or perhaps both). It’s hard to say.
Côté has worked on the Assassin’s Creed franchise since 2010’s Brotherhood, where he served as lead level designer. He worked as Assassin’s Creed 3‘s director, going on to become the creative director for titles like Syndicate and Odyssey.
His departure comes at a busy time for the Assassin’s Creed franchise, with a major story DLC launching for Shadows just last month and a big free update on the way for the Baghdad-set Mirage in November.
Additionally, Côté’s exit from Ubisoft comes after a report that the company canceled an in-development Assassin’s Creed game set in the Reconstruction-era Southern US last year, citing concerns around the current political climate in the country.
It remains to be seen what effect Côté’s departure will have on the Assassin’s Creed franchise and on Ubisoft as a whole. Stay tuned for more on this.
