There is rarely any silence around Ubisoft, as a major scandal involving the French publisher occurs almost every year. Now, we may have our candidate for 2026.
Marc-Alexis Côté, the former head of Assassin’s Creed, left Ubisoft just seven months after the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, one of the most successful games in the series’ history. Elon Musk and other public figures mocked the game, but Côté stood by it. The day after Ubisoft‘s announcement, he stated that it was not his decision. Now, he is suing. In October, when he first spoke about the issue, he wrote on LinkedIn that he had been offered a position at the newly formed Vantage Studios. However, he said that the position did not offer the same scope, responsibilities, or continuity as the work he had been entrusted with in recent years. At the time, he made it clear that he was reluctant to leave, saying that he considered himself the captain of the Assassin’s Creed ship and that he would only leave once everyone on board was safe. And that is exactly what he did for as long as he could.
On Friday, Radio-Canada reported that he had filed a lawsuit in the Quebec Superior Court seeking $1.3 million in damages, including two years’ salary and $75,000 in moral damages. In the lawsuit, he argued that Côté’s influence had weakened since Vantage Studios took over management of the Assassin’s Creed series and that he had previously received orders directly from Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft‘s CEO.
He would have been the head of development and been responsible to the franchise director. He would have overseen the development of Rainbow Six, Far Cry, and Assassin’s Creed. However, Côté was not considered for the franchise director position because it was based in France, not Quebec. He felt his only options were apparent demotion or forced resignation. According to Radio-Canada, Côté found this unacceptable, classifying it as constructive dismissal. This means that the resignation is considered forced because the working conditions became hostile.
Since October, he has consistently maintained that he did not leave of his own volition, but was asked by Ubisoft to step aside. Côté had been working on the series since 2010, during the development of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.
Source: PCGamer, Radio-Canada, LinkedIn
