In 2025 Marc-Alexis Côté, the top of the Murderer’s Creed franchise and a 20 yr veteran of Ubisoft, abruptly left the writer following the launch of Murderer’s Creed Shadows. Three months in the past he broke his silence to say that he didn’t depart voluntarily however was pushed out of the corporate. Now he’s suing Ubisoft for practically $1 million over what he alleges was a “constructive dismissal” after being demoted from main the writer’s largest franchise.
Radio-Canada stories that the lawsuit was not too long ago filed within the Superior Courtroom of Quebec and claims $1.3 million Canadian {dollars} in damages, or roughly $935,000. In it, Côté particulars the occasions main as much as his departure from the corporate, together with a gathering in the summertime of 2025 when it apparently turned clear that he would not stay accountable for Murderer’s Creed, the franchise he had led sine a 2022 technique reboot outlined its bold future.
Final yr, Ubisoft launched a subsidiary known as Vantage Studios backed by $1.25 billion in funding from Tencent that might home the writer’s most worthwhile franchises: Rainbow Six Siege, Far Cry, and Murderer’s Creed. It’s led by North American studios head Christophe Derennes and CEO Yves Guillemot’s son, Charlie Guillemot. Previous to the transfer, Côté reported on to Yves Guillemot.
An Murderer’s Creed veteran allegedly demoted
However beneath this new mannequin, Ubisoft was trying to rent a Head of Franchise that might oversee all of its main IP, together with Murderer’s Creed, successfully demoting Côté, in response to his lawsuit. The brand new place would additionally solely be positioned in France, that means Côté wouldn’t be eligible until he was prepared to relocate his life throughout the Atlantic.
The veteran developer was reportedly supplied a brand new place of franchise manufacturing head or an ambiguous position main a “Artistic Home” overseeing a separate, lesser franchise throughout the firm’s portfolio. When he declined and requested his severance for successfully shedding his place in October, he alleges that Ubisoft took the shock step of each internally and publicly asserting his “voluntary” departure the subsequent day.
“The previous 24 hours have been deeply emotional,” he wrote on LinkedIn on the time. “A lot of you’ve gotten expressed shock that I might select to depart Murderer’s Creed after so a few years, particularly given the fervour I nonetheless maintain for it. The reality is straightforward: I didn’t make that selection.” Côté is now asking the Quebec courtroom not just for damages and his severance, however to be launched from a non-compete clause that limits the roles he can take elsewhere within the online game business.
Longer dev cycles, fewer video games
The lawsuit comes on the eve of Murderer’s Creed Shadows‘ one-year anniversary, the final recreation within the franchise to ship with Côté, who has been engaged on the historic motion collection since 2010’s Murderer’s Creed: Brotherhood, on the helm. That recreation was initially supposed to come back out in 2024 however was delayed to offer further growth time after already marking the longest lull ever between new releases within the collection.
“We’re additionally shifting our growth mannequin to make it extra sustainable for our groups, as beforehand we used to common about three years for every growth cycle on Murderer’s Creed,” Côté introduced again in 2022. “So we’re shifting to longer dev cycles to make them extra sustainable from a human and technological perspective, in order that we will actually construct on the shoulders of each other after which help our video games for an extended time frame.”
He stated the franchise would evolve alongside two separate tracks, with Shadows representing the continued evolution of the open-world RPG components that started with Murderer’s Creed Origins and the subsequent entry, Murderer’s Creed Hexe directed by Clint Hocking, taking an strategy that might really feel “recent and completely different.” Years later, nonetheless, some tasks just like the multiplayer spin-off Invictus and the cell “AAA” recreation Jade stay MIA. A remake of Murderer’s Creed IV: Black Flag, in the meantime, is rumored to be launching within the subsequent few months.
Ubisoft and Côté didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
