Ubisoft has announced that the Assassin’s Creed franchise will be fronted at Vantage Studios by veterans developers who previously worked on 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
The Tencent-packed subsidiary has put Martin Schelling, Jean Guesdon, and François de Billy in charge of the long-running historical action-adventure franchise. Breaking things down, Schelling is head of the Assassin’s Creed series, overseeing the overall strategy and long-term vision for the IP. Guesdon has been named head of content for the franchise, while François de Billy is Assassin’s Creed’s “head of production excellence,” which will see him “strengthen production practices and execution” across the series.
Martin, Jean, and François have collaborated closely on multiple flagship Assassin’s Creed games throughout the years, across creative, production, and brand strategy.
Over the next few weeks, they will transition from their current roles to formally join the Assassin’s Creed leadership team alongside Andrée-Anne Boisvert, Producer for Assassin’s Creed’s cross-brand initiatives and Head of Technological Excellence, and Lionel Hiller, VP Brand and Go-to-Market Strategy, where they are set to steer the brand’s ambitious new chapter.
The news comes following a major shakeup for Ubisoft, with the publisher announcing last month that it was scrapping six titles including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, and delaying the release of seven other titles. Last week, Yves Guillemot confirmed that Ubisoft has two Far Cry games in the pipeline, as well as multiple titles in the Assassin’s Creed series.
In addition, Ubisoft Toronto, the studio responsible for the likes of Splinter Cell Watch Dogs, had suffered more layoffs last week as 40 people lost their jobs. However, the publisher stated that the Splinter Cell Remake has not been affected by the job losses.
[Source – Ubisoft]