Marc-Alexis C\u00f4t\u00e9 suddenly left Ubisoft after Assassin’s Creed Shadows released last year.<\/b>
\nFormer Assassin’s Creed boss Marc-Alexis C\u00f4t\u00e9 left Ubisoft just 7 months after the release of Shadows, one of the most successful games in the series’ history. He stood up for the game as public figures like Elon Musk derided it, and the day after Ubisoft announced his exit from the company, he said it wasn’t his choice. Now, he’s suing.
When he originally spoke on the issue last October, he said on LinkedIn he was offered a role at the nascent Vantage Studios, but that \u00ab\u00a0it did not carry the same scope, mandate, or continuity with the work I had been entrusted with in recent years.\u00a0\u00bb It was evident back then he was not enthusiastic about leaving, as he said \u00ab\u00a0I came to see myself as the captain of the Assassin\u2019s Creed ship, someone who leaves only once every soul on board is safe. And that is exactly what I have done for as long as I could.\u00a0\u00bb
Friday, Radio-Canada reported that a lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of Quebec claiming $1.3 million in damages (just under a million in US currency), including two years’ salary and $75,000 in moral damages. The lawsuit argues (obtained via machine translation) that \u00ab\u00a0Mr. C\u00f4t\u00e9’s influence would have crumbled since the creation of [Vantage Studios], which took charge of the Assassin’s Creed series, he who until then had received his orders directly from [CEO Yves] Guillemot.\u00a0\u00bb
In other words, he was to be made \u00ab\u00a0head of production\u00a0\u00bb, who would have answered to the \u00ab\u00a0head of franchise\u00a0\u00bb, a position that oversees development of Rainbow Six, Far Cry, and Assassin’s Creed. C\u00f4t\u00e9 wasn’t considered for the head of franchise role, as it was based in France rather than Quebec, so he felt his only options were the apparent demotion or unwilling resignation. Radio-Canada’s report states that C\u00f4t\u00e9 considered all this \u00ab\u00a0unacceptable\u00a0\u00bb and constituted \u00ab\u00a0constructive dismissal\u00a0\u00bb, which if you’re unaware is when a resignation is considered involuntary because working conditions became hostile.
He’s been consistent on that since October, when he wrote \u00ab\u00a0I did not walk away. I stayed at my post until Ubisoft asked me to step aside\u00a0\u00bb on LinkedIn. C\u00f4t\u00e9 had worked on the series since 2010, during the development of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.<\/p>\n