Witchcraft, Shifting Tides, and the Great Ubisoft Exit: What’s Really Happening with Assassin’s Creed Hexe?
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
The Game Director for Assassin's Creed Hexe has jumped ship to start an indie studio, marking the second major leadership departure for the project this year and leaving me wondering if the 'witchy' spin-off is in serious trouble.
Right, I’ve been staring into my digital crystal ball all morning, and bloody hell, the smoke coming out of Ubisoft Montreal is looking a bit thick. You know that feeling when you’re halfway through casting a complex protection spell and suddenly your lead wizard just decides to wander off to join a druid circle in the woods? That’s essentially what’s happening over at the Assassin’s Creed camp right now.
According to a recent report from Michael Cripe at IGN South Africa, the Game Director for the mysterious *Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe*, Benoit Richer, has officially packed up his hidden blades and left the building. Now, I’m usually the first one to say that people change jobs—it’s the nature of the beast, especially in this industry—but this isn't just a minor blip on the radar. It’s part of a pattern that’s starting to look a bit like a tactical retreat.
### The Captains are Jumping Ship
Let’s look at the tea leaves for a second. Richer isn’t just some guy who knew where the coffee machine was; he’s a Ubisoft veteran who’s been in the trenches since 2000. We’re talking *Rainbow Six Vegas 2* and *Assassin’s Creed Valhalla* pedigree here. He even did a stint at WB Games Montreal where he was the Game Director on *Batman: Arkham Origins* (which, let’s be honest, was far better than people gave it credit for at the time).
But here’s the kicker: Richer is the *second* major captain to leave the *Hexe* ship this year. Back in February, the legendary Clint Hocking—the creative powerhouse behind *Splinter Cell* and *Watch Dogs: Legion*—also tapped out. When you lose your Creative Director and your Game Director in the span of a few months on a project that’s supposed to be your next “flagship” title, you have to wonder if the cauldron is starting to boil over.
### What on Earth is a 'Hexe' Anyway?
For those of you who haven't been obsessively refreshing Ubisoft’s PR feed, *Codename Hexe* is meant to be the “different” one. When it was announced back in 2022, Marc-Alexis Côté (the big boss of the franchise) promised it would be a departure from the massive RPG-bloat we’ve seen in *Odyssey* and *Valhalla*. The teaser featured a spooky, twig-bound Assassin logo hanging in a dark forest, heavily hinting at a 16th-century witch-hunt setting.
I was genuinely excited about this. A smaller, more focused, perhaps even horror-leaning *Assassin’s Creed*? Sign me up, mate! But with the creative leads vanishing like a rogue with a high stealth stat, is the vision staying intact? Jean Guesdon, another AC heavyweight, stepped in when Hocking left, but we still don’t know who’s filling Richer’s boots. It’s starting to feel a bit like a game of musical chairs where the music is a haunting Gregorian chant.
### The Indie Allure
Where did Richer go? This is the bit that really piques my curiosity. He’s co-founded a new indie studio called Servo Games. I reckon we’re seeing a massive trend here, and it’s one that should make the big AAA publishers sweat. These seasoned veterans, the ones who have built the foundations of our favorite franchises, are getting tired of the corporate machine.
In the world of Web3 and the burgeoning indie scene, there’s this seductive promise of true ownership—not just of assets, but of the creative process itself. Why deal with the bureaucracy of a multinational corporation when you can build something nimble and weird with your mates? I suspect Richer looked at the horizon and saw more joy in a blank indie canvas than in another decade-long development cycle for a corporate monolith.
### A Cautiously Skeptical Outlook
Look, I’m not saying *Assassin’s Creed Hexe* is doomed. Ubisoft has thousands of talented developers, and they’ve weathered storms before. But as a gamer, I’m starting to get that itchy feeling in the back of my skull. When leadership cycles through this quickly, the “vision” often gets diluted. It becomes a game designed by a committee rather than a creator.
And let’s not forget the broader context. Ubisoft is currently navigating the delay of *Assassin’s Creed Shadows* and the rollout of the Animus Hub (formerly Infinity). They’re trying to build a digital platform that connects all these experiences, which sounds suspiciously like a way to keep us all locked into a single ecosystem.
Is *Hexe* suffering because it’s trying to be too many things to too many people? Or did Richer and Hocking simply realize that the magic they wanted to make wasn't possible within the current Ubisoft structure?
I’m keeping my eyes on Servo Games. Usually, when a wizard leaves the high tower to start his own hut in the woods, that’s where the real interesting spells start happening. As for *Hexe*, I’ll be watching that dark forest very closely. Let's just hope the game doesn't end up lost in the woods without a map.
Source: IGN South Africa (Michael Cripe)
Tags: Ubisoft, Assassins Creed, Game Development, Indie Games, Industry News
Original article: IGN South Africa