Assassin’s Creed Hex lost its creative director, Clint Hocking, end of February. Two months later, game director Benoit Richer left to co-found an “independent studio comprised of industry veterans, aligned around a shared vision of the industry and experience creation.”
Richer joined Ubisoft in 2017 after directing Batman: Arkham Origins at Warner Bros. Montreal. He directed the 2018 VR psychological thriller from French publisher Transference before becoming a game director on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and later Assassin’s Creed Hex. This is now the project’s second high-profile departure this year.
Hocking, a Ubisoft veteran on Cell burst, Far cry 2And Legion of Watchdogswas apparently replaced on Witch after Ubisoft brought back Assassin’s Creed Black Flag And Origins director Jean Guesdon to help lead creative oversight of the franchise (former franchise producer Marc-Alexis Côté is currently suing the venture about an alleged “forced shooting””).
“We sincerely thank [Clint] for his vision, creative contributions and dedication over the years, and we wish him the best in his next chapter,” a Ubisoft spokesperson said at the time. “Development of Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe continues with a seasoned team.”
Little is known about Hexe beyond the fact that it will be set during the “latter stages of the Holy Roman Empire” and will apparently involve some elements of horror and witchcraft, a tonal departure for the period-based stealth action series that generally relies on historical details rather than supernatural storytelling.
It’s not supposed to ship until 2027with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag resynced being the big one from Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed game for 2026. What’s in the works after that, and whether the franchise will return to a more annualized release schedule between remakes and spin-offs, remains to be seen.
