Marc-Alexis Côté, the former head of the Assassin’s Creed franchise who spent two decades at the company, has revealed that his exit was not voluntary. Ubisoft requested that he step down and transferred stewardship of the series to Vantage Studios.
The announcement of his departure was made on October 15, 2025 — just seven months after the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadow. Ubisoft expressed its “deep gratitude” for Côté’s contributions and said it “regretted his departure,” wording that led many to assume he had left by choice. In reality, the move was initiated by Ubisoft.
In a LinkedIn post Côté wrote:
“People were understandably surprised that I would leave Assassin’s Creed after so many years, especially given my passion for the franchise. The truth is simple: this was not my decision.”
He explained that Ubisoft reassigned the franchise “to someone more aligned with the new organizational structure” and offered him “another position” that did not carry “the same level of authority or the continuation of the work I had been leading in recent years.” The franchise is now managed by Vantage Studios, a Tencent subsidiary, led by 35‑year‑old Ubisoft veteran Christophe Deren and the son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.
Although Côté was pushed out, he says he bears no ill will toward Ubisoft and remains thankful for the teams and projects he was part of.
“I will always be grateful to the people, the projects, and the faith that allowed us to build worlds that inspired millions. But to be clear: I did not leave of my own accord. I remained in my role until Ubisoft asked me to step aside.”
Source: iXBT.games