Marc-Alexis Côté, who previously headed up the Assassin’s Creed franchise at Ubisoft, is suing the French publishing giant for over $1.3 million.
According to CBC Radio Canada, Côté is suing Ubisoft for “constructive dismissal” and is hoping to secure $1.3 million in severance pay and moral damages. According to the lawsuit, bigwigs at Ubisoft held a meeting in summer last year where it revealed it was looking for a ‘Head of Franchise’ to oversee Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six by Vantage Studios, its new Tencent-backed subsidiary.
The ex-Assassin’s Creed boss said he was offered the position of ‘Head of Production,’ which would have seen him report to Head of Franchise and would not be in control of the series, including leading dialogue with Netflix and other partners.
In September, Ubisoft presented Côté with the offer of a major position at a possible ‘Creative House,’ which would see him oversee second-tier franchises at Ubisoft. However, he saw these as demotions given that he was previously, in his own words, the “guardian of the Assassin’s Creed series.”
Côté added that he took a few weeks off to reflect and said he was “disoriented, confused, and affected by the anxiety-inducing situation.” Ubisoft informed him that he had to make a final decision about the new position at the end of this period, where he decided it was an “unacceptable demotion” and a “disguised dismissal,” and therefore demanded Ubisoft offer him severance pay.
Finally, Ubisoft told Côté not to show up for work on October 13, 2025 and requested he continue to take time off until the studio responds to his formal notice. Ubisoft announced the following day that Côté had departed. As such, the lawsuit states that as Ubisoft indicated a “voluntary departure” in its statement, the publisher was attempting to avoid paying Côté severance and to keep his non-compete clause active.
Back in October 2025, Côté revealed that he was departing Ubisoft after nearly 20 years with the Assassin’s Creed creator, where he served in multiple roles on the franchise. Around the same time, it had been revealed that Vantage Studios had started operations to oversee the aforementioned three IPs.
A few weeks after this, its co-CEOs Charlie Guillemot and Christophe Derennes stated that Côté had declined an offer to take on a leadership position with Vantage Studios, instead opting to quit Ubisoft entirely. Côté himself released a statement soon after stating that Ubisoft instead had asked him to “step aside,” noting that while a new position was offered to him, but it wasn’t of interest to him.
“A different position was mentioned, but it did not carry the same scope, mandate, or continuity with the work I had been entrusted with in recent years,” he said at the time.
[Source – CBC Radio Canada via VGC]