Assassin’s Creed Hexe, Ubisoft’s long-anticipated entry in the franchise set against the backdrop of 17th-century European witch trials, is undergoing significant upheaval behind the scenes. Game director Benoit Richer has left Ubisoft Montreal after nearly a decade to co-found Servo Games, a Quebec-based indie studio focused on atmospheric single-player titles built in Unreal Engine 5. Richer joins fellow Ubisoft veterans Alex Drouin, Luc Tremblay, and Dany Marcoux at the new venture, describing the move as “the beginning of a new chapter.”
Richer’s exit marks the second director-level departure from Hexe in just a matter of months. Creative director Clint Hocking left the project in February, and former franchise lead Marc-Alexis Côté parted ways with Ubisoft back in October under contentious circumstances, later reportedly filing a lawsuit against the company. The repeated loss of senior leadership raises questions about the stability of a project that was first announced in 2022 and still has no confirmed release date.
In the wake of these departures, Ubisoft veteran Jean Guesdon — known for directing Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Origins — has stepped into the role of creative director on Hexe, while also serving as the broader franchise’s head of content. According to reliable insider j0nathan, Guesdon’s arrival has brought sweeping creative changes, most notably a decision to strip out the game’s magical and supernatural elements.
Among the reported casualties is a mechanic that would have allowed players to take control of a cat — a feature that fit neatly within Hexe’s witchcraft-inspired setting and had precedent in earlier entries like Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, which let players warg into their eagle companion. The shift suggests Guesdon may be steering Hexe toward a more grounded experience, similar to the stripped-back approach of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, rather than the more fantastical direction seen in Odyssey’s demigod-like abilities.
The creative shakeup comes at a turbulent time for Ubisoft as a whole. The company has enacted mass layoffs, canceled multiple projects, and restructured its internal studios under the Vantage Studios subsidiary, which now oversees Assassin’s Creed alongside franchises like Far Cry and Rainbow Six. Despite the instability, Ubisoft has insisted that Hexe’s development continues with a capable team and that the game will deliver “something distinctive” within the franchise.
While fans wait for concrete details on Hexe, Ubisoft is keeping the Assassin’s Creed pipeline busy with several other projects, including the PvP-focused Invictus, the mobile title Jade, and the recently revealed Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Resynced, a remake of the beloved 2013 pirate adventure set to launch this July. Whether Hexe can weather its leadership crisis and creative overhaul remains one of the biggest open questions in the franchise’s future.