Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe’s Creative Director Has Left Ubisoft, Jean Guesdon to Take Over

A month after Ubisoft announced its organizational overhaul, it looks like plans for the Assassin’s Creed franchise are also being changed up. According to VideoGamesChronicle, Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe’s creative director, Clint Hocking, has left the company. The report notes that this was announced through an internal meeting by the new leadership for the overall Assassin’s Creed series.

Despite Hocking’s departure, however, work on Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe is slated to continue, with head of content on the franchise, Jean Guesdon, taking over the role of creative director. A Ubisoft spokesperson thanked Hocking for his work at the company over the years in a statement.

“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,” said the spokesperson. “Development on Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe continues with a seasoned team. The game will deliver something distinctive within the Assassin’s Creed franchise. We look forward to sharing more information in the future.”

Back in January, narrative director on Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe, Darby McDevitt, revealed that Mirage and Valhalla writer Christopher Grilli is also working on the project, albeit with a different team on “other content”. The main narrative, on the other hand, is being handled by Kristen McGorry, who has been described by McDevitt as being the game’s lead writer.

It is still unclear what this “other content” might be. However, the context of McDevitt’s confirmation might indicate that Grilli is either working on side content for Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe, or a post-launch DLC. Assassin’s Creed social media fan account Zephryss has noted their belief in the latter, saying, “I believe this is for a DLC for Hexe, and the original release plans for the game should not be affected.”

While Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe was first announced all the way back in 2022, there haven’t really been any details revealed about it. The title was announced alongside another one dubbed Codename Red, which would turn out to be Assassin’s Creed Shadows. As for when Codename Hexe might come out, rumors have indicated that Ubisoft wants to wrap up post-launch support for Assassin’s Creed Shadows before its release.

Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe is slated to take place during the witch trials era, and has been described as being the darkest entry in the franchise so far. The game is also expected to have a larger emphasis on horror elements alongside the other aspects that the Assassin’s Creed series is known for.

As per Ubisoft’s recent restructuring, the Assassin’s Creed franchise is now under the leadership of one of its five creative houses – the recently-founded Vantage Studios. The creative house is also working on the Far Cry franchise. In a recent statement, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot revealed that there are two Far Cry projects currently in the works, along with “several” Assassin’s Creed titles.

Since its restructuring was announced, Ubisoft has been facing quite a bit of criticism from its employees. Union representatives have even gone as far as to call for Guillemot’s resignation.