Assassin’s Creed Hexe lost its creative director, Clint Hocking, at the end of February. Two months later, it’s losing game director Benoit Richer, who departed to cofound an “indie studio of industry veterans, aligned around a shared vision of the industry and experience creation.”
Richer joined Ubisoft back in 2017 after directing Batman: Arkham Origins at Warner Bros. Montreal. He led the French publisher’s 2018 VR psychological thriller Transference before becoming a game director on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and later Assassin’s Creed Hexe. He’s now the project’s second high-profile departure this year.
Hocking, an Ubisoft veteran on Splinter Cell, Far Cry 2, and Watch Dogs Legion, was seemingly replaced on Hexe 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 company over an alleged “forced firing“).
“We sincerely thank [Clint] for his vision, creative contributions, and dedication over the years, and we wish him the very best in his next chapter,” a spokesperson for Ubisoft said at the time. “Development on Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe continues with a seasoned team.”
Little is known about Hexe outside of the fact that it will take place during the “latter stages of the Holy Roman Empire” and seemingly involve certain elements of horror and witchcraft, a tonal departure for the period-based stealth action series that usually leans into historical detail rather than supernatural storytelling.
It’s not reportedly supposed to ship until 2027, with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynched being Ubisoft’s big Assassin’s Creed game for 2026. What’s in the works for after that, and whether the franchise will be moving back toward a more annualized release schedule between remakes and spin-offs, remains to be seen.