Ubisoft Entrusts Assassin's Creed Franchise to Black Flag Veterans
Ubisoft announced a new management team for the Assassin's Creed series. Leadership of the franchise will be handed over to veterans who were behind the creation of Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag. All three will move to Vantage Studios — a recently created subsidiary of the company, partially funded by Tencent.
- Overall brand development will be overseen by Martin Schelling. He is responsible for strategy and the long-term vision of the series. Schelling has been working with Assassin's Creed since 2011, starting with Assassin's Creed Revelations. He also produced the pirate-themed Black Flag, worked on Assassin's Creed Origins and Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and until recently held the position of Production Director at Ubisoft.
- Jean Guesdon will lead the content direction and define the creative course of the franchise. He participated in the creation of the very first part from 2007, was a game designer on Assassin's Creed II, and later served as creative director for Assassin's Creed Origins and Black Flag.
- François de Billy will take the position of Head of "Production Excellence". His task is to improve production processes and achieve a more stable release schedule for games. He worked on Revelations, Black Flag, Origins, and Valhalla.
In the coming weeks, all three will leave their current positions and join the renewed leadership team. Working alongside them on brand development will be producer Andrée-Anne Boisvert, responsible for cross-brand initiatives and technologies, as well as Lionel Hiller, overseeing promotion strategy.
The reshuffle is taking place against the backdrop of a large-scale reboot within Ubisoft. The company is reforming its structure and dividing its teams into autonomous "creative houses". Simultaneously, the publisher is cutting costs: six projects have already been canceled, seven more have been postponed, many developers have been laid off, and several divisions have been closed.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot previously confirmed that several games based on the Assassin's Creed and Far Cry franchises are in production — both single-player and online. According to him, Vantage Studios is already forming a dense release pipeline. Last year, the Assassin's Creed audience exceeded 30 million people, and the company intends to expand this community even further in the coming years.