A big name from Ubisoft is leaving the company, and departures are piling up

Gaming News A big name from Ubisoft is leaving the company, and departures are piling up

Times are tough Ubisoft. We explained this to you a little while ago the largest French publisher in the sector faced one of the biggest crises in its history, and that was an understatement: between a sharp slump in stock market value and postponements of long-awaited titles (even cancellations of barely-announced games), the company’s situation is worrying the video game world but also internally, since a strike call was filed last month. In short, it’s not a joy, even if a certain Assassin’s Creed Mirage is expected for this year and could help its developer stay afloat. But that was until one of the franchise’s masterminds jumped ship…

A veteran of the Assassin’s Creed saga is leaving the company

Very few names are known in the world of video games, even in key positions, such as directors, producers or creative directors, like the case that interests us here. So, Maybe you’ve never heard of Jean Guesdon, and yet if you’ve played at least one episode of the Assassin’s Creed license, you owe him a lot. Joining Ubisoft in 2005, he has worked on most titles in the series, starting with the very first Assassin’s Creed in 2007 as content manager and production coordinator. He then took the lead by becoming the series’ creative director on two major titles in the saga: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013) and above all Assassin’s Creed Origins (2017), an excellent opus at the origin of a quasi reboot IP and its game fundamentals, later reused.

However, after that last installment, Jean Guesdon has not been featured in subsequent productions, whether Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or the latest Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. unfortunately, His long love affair with the series, which he has been with since the beginning, seems to be over. Not only had he worked for five years as creative director on a secret project codenamed “Renaissance,” according to Kotaku. In a post by the prospect on LinkedIn, we learned that he is leaving Ubisoft after 17 years of good and loyal service, and without bitterness, if we are to believe his words:

Hey everyone, For me, 2023 begins with the end of just over 17 great years at Ubisoft Montreal. I cannot express how much I owe to this unique company. So many people have met, learned so many skills, and completed so many projects. And of course Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed… :–)

Thank you Ubi, thank you very much!!

Jean Guesdon, on LinkedIn

Cascading departures at Ubisoft?

According to a Ubisoft spokesman my city, the company thanks him “for his strong creative vision, his openness, his ideas and most importantly his ability to put himself in the shoes of the players in his contributions to Ubisoft” and wishes him the best of luck in the rest of his career. Amidst all this turmoil, At the very least, the departure of a Ubisoft veteran appears to have gone smoothly, despite showing a “trend” observed over the past two years. Also according to Kotaku, the general director of Ubisoft’s human resources department wanted to reassure the company’s employees during an internal meeting, explaining that the departures of senior developers have become rare in recent months.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is still expected in 2023, with no specific release window, on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, as well as older generation consoles (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One).