Former Assassin’s Creed boss sues Ubisoft for more than $1.3 million, alleging ‘constructive dismissal’

Former Assassin’s Creed franchise boss Marc-Alexis Côté is suing Ubisoft for more than $1.3 million.

It was announced in October 2025 that Côté had left Ubisoft, after working on the Assassin’s Creed series for nearly two decades as a designer, director and producer.

In 2022, Côté was put in charge of leading Ubisoft’s global teams on the Assassin’s Creed franchise, tasked with shaping the long-term strategy of the series.

However, last October Ubisoft’s new Tencent-backed subsidiary Vantage Studios started operation, overseeing the company’s three biggest IPs – Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six.

Two weeks after Vantage started, co-CEOs Charlie Guillemot and Christophe Derennes emailed staff and posted a press release claiming that Coté had been offered a leadership position at the subsidiary but declined the offer, and had decided to leave Ubisoft.

Later that week Côté released his own statement, claiming he didn’t resign and was “asked to step aside” by Ubisoft, who had “decided to transfer the leadership of the Assassin’s Creed franchise to someone closer to its organizational structure”, adding: “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.”

Now CBC Radio Canada reports that Côté is taking Ubisoft to court, citing “constructive dismissal” and claiming more than $1.3 million in severance pay and moral damages.

Côté’s lawsuit claims that a Ubisoft management meeting held in the summer of 2025 revealed that the company was looking to find a ‘Head of Franchise’ who would oversee the three IPs taken over by Vantage, and that this position would have taken on most of Côté’s responsibilities.

Côté says he was instead offered the role of ‘Head of Production’, which would have reported to the Head of Franchise and would have caused him to lose the prestige of overseeing the series, as well as his ability to lead dialogue with partners like Netflix.

According to Côté, Ubisoft then decided in September to offer him a leadership position at a potential “Creative House”, which would oversee Ubisoft’s second-tier series. Given that he saw himself as the “guardian of the Assassin’s Creed series, Côté claims these proposals were essentially demotions.

Taking two weeks off to reflect because he was “disoriented, confused, and affected by the anxiety-inducing situation”, Côté says he was told by Ubisoft at the end of this period that he had to make his final decision on whether to accept the proposed new position. Côté decided that it was an “unacceptable demotion” and a “disguised dismissal”, so formally demanded Ubisoft pay him severance pay.

Côté claims that Ubisoft told him not to show up for work on October 13 and to continue his period off until it responded to his formal notice. The next day, Ubisoft officially announced that Côté had left his position.

The lawsuit claims that because Ubisoft’s statement suggested a “voluntary departure”, the company was trying to avoid paying him severance and to keep his non-compete clause active (which presumably remains in effect when someone voluntarily leaves a company, but not if they’re laid off).

Côté is claiming two years’ salary in severance pay, as well as $75,000 in moral damages (for what he says are an abuse of power and harm to his reputation), for a total of more than $1.3 million. He has also asked the court to lift the non-compete clause.

VGC has contacted Ubisoft for comment.