The tough times continue for Ubisoft, which now finds itself in a legal fight with a former emploiyee.<\/b>
\nWhen it rains it pours, and Ubisoft, one of the world\u2019s largest video game publishers, is currently enduring a deluge. The company\u2019s latest releases, which include its long running Assassin\u2019s Creed franchise and tie-ins with popular IP such as Star Wars, have failed to make the splash it hoped for. Now, Ubisoft is facing a legal battle with former employee Marc-Alexis C\u00f4t\u00e9, who was previously at the helm of Assassin\u2019s Creed.
According to reporting by Radio-Canada, C\u00f4t\u00e9 has filed a suit against Ubisoft and is seeking $1.3 million CAD, or about $935,000 USD in damages and requesting to be freed from a non-compete clause. In the suit, C\u00f4t\u00e9 alleges that he was \u201cconstructively dismissed\u201d by the company last year.
It came at a time when Ubisoft was looking to restructure itself and shift its best performing series over to its newly opened Vantage Studios, which would\u2019ve meant a demotion for C\u00f4t\u00e9 and force a relocation of his family to France.
The suit felt like a matter of time after Ubisoft released a statement about his departure, which it described as \u201cvoluntary.\u201d However, C\u00f4t\u00e9 shared on LinkedIn that, \u201cmany of you have expressed surprise that I would choose to leave Assassin\u2019s Creed after so many years, especially given the passion I still hold for it. The truth is simple: I did not make that choice.\u201d
While Assassin\u2019s Creed Shadows didn\u2019t meet the sales expectations Ubisoft had, it wasn\u2019t a bad entry, managing to hit a respectable score of 81 on Metacritic. It will be interesting to see if whoever takes over the series next can do better, or if it will suffer from C\u00f4t\u00e9\u2019s exit. Hopefully, for the fans\u2019 sake, it will mean future releases can continue to be fun experiences.<\/p>\n