Raphael Lacoste, artistic director of the “Assassin’s Creed” franchise, leaves Ubisoft

Raphael Lacoste, artistic director of the “Assassin’s Creed” franchise, has left Ubisoft after spending more than a decade in the business.

Why is this important: Lacoste is the latest of a number of high profile creators who left Ubisoft’s main franchise amid the upheavals of the multinational publisher.

• In announcing his departure, Lacoste called Ubisoft a “nice home for me for 16 years,” but said, “It’s time to take another leap of faith.”
• He didn’t cite any of the company’s ongoing controversies, instead saying he was just up for a new challenge.

Between the lines: The release of Lacoste continues an exodus of the best developers of “Assassin’s Creed” from the former main studio of the series, Ubisoft Montreal.

• Within the Montreal team, Lacoste has worked as Artistic Director of the series since 2012 and as Senior Artistic Director on several acclaimed “Assassin’s Creed” games: the 2007 original, “Revelations” (2012), “Black Flag” “(2013),” Origins “(2017) and” Valhalla “(2020).
• His work has helped produce some of the medium’s finest historical settings, as the games allow players to explore stunning recreations of places such as ancient Egypt, 16th-century Constantinople, and the 18th-century Caribbean.
• This spring, the narrative director of “Valhalla” Darby McDevitt and game director Eric Baptizat has also left for other studios. They had been working on “Assassin’s Creed” for a decade or more.

Driving the news: Ubisoft has had a tumultuous past two years, first due to game quality issues that sparked a series of significant delays, and then due to complaints of sexual harassment and misconduct that led to the ousting of powerful men from. the company (including the creative director of “Valhalla”).

• As a result, the game “Assassin’s Creed” has remained among the top rated and best selling Ubisoft titles.
• But now a number of “AC” lifers are gone.
• These releases come at a time of transition for “Assassin’s Creed” itself as Ubisoft shifts the leadership of the “Assassin’s Creed” franchise from the Montreal studio in favor of a joint “Assassin’s Creed Infinity” project with the Ubisoft Quebec studio. .

What they say : When asked about Ubisoft Montreal’s releases earlier this month, a company representative told Axios that the studio’s turnover rate was “in line with video game industry averages, and we are continuing. to attract, retain and nurture some of the best talent in the world. “

The bottom line: The long-running “Assassin’s Creed” series has already undergone significant leadership changes and revisions, and it’s still in the midst of a major shift.