Assassin’s Creed: Hexe director, Clint Hocking, has left Ubisoft as part of franchise upheaval
Hocking previously helmed Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2, and Watch Dogs: Legion
Clint Hocking, the creative director of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed game, Codename Hexe, has left Ubisoft, VGC understands.
The news was shared with staff this week in an internal meeting helmed by the Assassin’s Creed franchise’s newly-announced leadership team.
Development on Hexe will continue without Hocking, Ubisoft said. Jean Guesdon, the new head of content for the Assassin’s Creed brand, will take over the project as creative director. Guesdon previously directed Assassin’s Creed Origins and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
Hocking has worked at Ubisoft across two stints since 2001. Notably, he was the creative director behind Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2, and Watch Dogs: Legion.
“We sincerely thank [Clint] for his vision, creative contributions, and dedication over the years, and we wish him the very best in his next chapter,” a spokesperson told VGC. “Development on Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe continues with a seasoned team.
“The game will deliver something distinctive within the Assassin’s Creed franchise,” it added. “We look forward to sharing more information in the future.”
Announced in 2022, Assassin’s Creed Hexe was billed as “a different experience” from typical Assassin’s Creed entries, with a focus on horror elements.
Speaking to VGC when the project was announced, Ubisoft’s then-franchise boss, Marc-Alexis Cote, said Hexe was “a bit further out” than other announced projects, which included last year’s Shadows.
Alongside Ubisoft itself, the future of the Assassin’s Creed series is seeing great upheaval behind the scenes. Recently, running of the franchise was taken over by a newly-established subsidiary, Vantage Studios, which is partly owned by Tencent.
Marc-Alexis Côté, a franchise veteran of nearly two decades, left Ubisoft in October. However, he later announced his intention to sue his former employer, claiming he didn’t resign and was “asked to step aside”.
And last week, Ubisoft announced the future leadership team for the Assassin’s Creed series, which will be comprised of bosses behind 2013’s Black Flag, including Martin Schelling, Jean Guesdon, and François de Billy.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently confirmed that the company is working on multiple Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry games, spanning both single-player and multiplayer.
“We have a solid pipeline underway across Vantage Studios,” Guillemot said. “Under the Assassin’s Creed brand, several titles are in development, spanning both single-player and multiplayer experiences, with the ambition to further grow a community that exceeded 30 million players last year.”
Last month, Ubisoft detailed a ‘major reset’ at the company, which will see its creative teams radically restructured into autonomous ‘creative houses’. The publisher is also rolling out a cost-cutting initiative, which has so far resulted in the cancellation of six games, the postponement of seven others, and two studio closures.
