Assassin’s Creed creative lead fired from Ubisoft

Patrice Désilets, the creative lead on some of the best 3D platforming titles of the past ten years – Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Assassin's Creed 1 + 2 + Brotherhood – has been fired from Ubisoft, just two months after returning from a three year stint at rival publisher THQ.

Désilets took a creative leave of absence from Ubisoft in 2010, shacking up with THQ a short while later to work on some unannounced products from that now defunct publisher. However Ubisoft ended up buying the team he was a part of, bringing Désilets back into the fold – but not for long it seems.

The specifics of it however, are unclear. Ubisoft said (via Polygon) that: “the good faith discussions between Patrice and Ubisoft aimed at aligning Patrice's and the studio's visions have been inconclusive. As a result, Patrice has left the studio. Our priorities remain with the teams already hard at work on projects in development. They are at the root of Ubisoft Montréal's past and future successes.”

Ubisoft should be a bit careful. Patrice has dangerous friends.

But there are two sides to every tale and Désilets take on what went down is quite different. “Contrary to any statements made earlier today, this morning I was terminated by Ubisoft. I was notified of this termination in person, handed a termination notice and was unceremoniously escorted out of the building by two guards without being able to say goodbye to my team or collect my personal belongings.”
However any thought that he may go quietly into the night like one of his storied protagonists, has been quashed. “I intend to fight Ubisoft vigorously for my rights, for my team and for my game,” he concluded.

KitGuru Says: Bit of a rough one, being dumped out without so much as an explanation. With a pedigree like Désilets he'll surely find work elsewhere, but it could get interesting if he is able to wrest some creative control over which ever “game” he's talking about, from Ubisoft.

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