Patrice Désilets has been fired from Ubisoft less than two months after rejoining the company following the collapse of THQ.
Désilets was one of the leading figures in the creation of the million-selling Assassin's Creed series, and departed Ubisoft in 2010 in order to take some time out from the industry. He reappeared at THQ's Montreal studio, where he remained until the publisher went belly-up and Ubisoft snapped up the staff.
It was rumoured that Désilets would continue to work on 1666 and Underdog — the two projects started at THQ — but that now appears unlikely.
Ubisoft has issued a statement to Polygon which appears to hint at an amicable split:
The good faith discussions between Patrice and Ubisoft aimed at aligning Patrice's and the studio's visions have been inconclusive. As a result, Patrice has left the studio. Our priorities remain with the teams already hard at work on projects in development. They are at the root of Ubisoft Montréal's past and future successes.
However, Désilets himself has a somewhat different story to tell:
Contrary to any statements made earlier today, this morning I was terminated by Ubisoft. I was notified of this termination in person, handed a termination notice and was unceremoniously escorted out of the building by two guards without being able to say goodbye to my team or collect my personal belongings.
This was not my decision. Ubisoft's actions are baseless and without merit. I intend to fight Ubisoft vigorously for my rights, for my team and for my game.
Sounds like something unsavoury has occurred, and the dream of Désilets returning to the Assassin's Creed franchise is all but over.
[source eurogamer.net, via polygon.com]
Comments 29
There's just something in the water at Ubisoft, man.
Wow, what did he do so wrong for him to be booted out of the premises so harshly after just 2 months there?
I would have thought some dev's would have been more careful when choosing a publisher, yes publishers back the developer that there job but also tell them in some cases what to do. All it takes is one successful game if you have the money to back it, which has been done.
Can't even take your personal belongings? Isn't that theft by Ubi?
A stern reminder of why I don't like Ubisoft.
@AyeHaley wouldn't be the first time Ubisoft has dabbled in theft. They stole my right to play a great game when delaying Legends!
Seriously before bashing ubisoft does anyone know why they treated him that way there's always a reason behind it and both sides didn't tell what happened
Obviously some kind of machination by the Templars.
The real life goings on at UB Isoft sound far more exciting than their game storylines.
And the prologues are shorter.
Totally not a person that was wasting Ubisoft's money on two project that the company didn't wan't.
I don't belive this guy.
I really want to know what happened first. Both sides could be saying one thing. Ubi could be saying it nicely so that what Patrice is saying could be true.
Though Patrice statement could just be made up so he would look like the victim to something he did.
The series has went down hill anyway. I would rather the team listen to the guy instead of doing their own thing.
this to me says ubisoft is in the wrong mostly cuz after he left the AC games didnt have that spark no more and come on he was making the new game yet now hes kicked off believe it or not looking at this from business point of view the games sales wont look to good later on...
we might have another AC3 again but this time good start to it but half way the game goes bad putting that aside seems like the guy wasnt really following all of ubisofts high requirements or expectations he wanted to do his own thing which is what happens at times but we dont know till they tell but sucks to get kicked out in such a manner O_O
People's egos lead to dumb decisions... There was likely no reason to treat him with such little respect.
Man this is the dude who had a huge hand in the Prince of Perisa remake as well as being behind Assassin Creed 2 and 3. This is equal to firing Jade Raymond or Michael Ancel.
Hm...unless he's not telling the full story here, there are definitely regulations in Canada against doing something like this.
However, that depends on whether or not he was a contractor. If not, he has to be given a certain amount of notice and compensation for the amount of time remaining (from the time he was notified). The only exception to this is being terminated with "just cause" which actually falls on the employer to prove the employee did something wrong.
Otherwise, if he's a contractor there may be clauses that allow him to be unceremoniously deposed of like this (though generally speaking contractors aren't stupid enough to not have something involving this).
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to corporate culture.
He'll be allowed back in a few days to collect his things after he's had a few days to cool off from being fired. If you ask a corporation ALL employee firings are amicable. Who know why this guy got fired, could be anything.
@bahooney People already abuse the term "right". Please don't join them.
With that said, I dunno if he's telling the full story if it's this bad.
@bahooney
except it was never your right at all...
Why fire the man who made the Assassin's creed?
Gotta love Ubisoft...so does this mean they're cancelling AC4 for no reason?
Probably some kind of reason he was fired. However, I would doubt a large company would announce why.
And I'm sure he'll be allowed back in to get his stuff in a few days.
@bahooney That wasn't theft and it isn't anybody's right to play a game.
I know their are risks involved in firing someone but I despise the guarded escort. It's so demeaning. As for rights, I'm not sure about Canada, but they should provide a justification for his termination.
Ubisoft, what happened? You do realize your name is not Electronic Arts, correct? With this debacle and the Rayman Legends disappointment, you are beginning to approach their level of underhanded backstabbery at an alarming rate.
The reality of the video game business is in many companies if developers speak or act out against their bosses (CEOs, publishers, etc.), you will be terminated without hesitation, it's often right in their contract. This is why you see DICE constantly berating the Wii U for having poor specs even in comparison to the PS3 and 360, because EA told them to do so. And why are the developers of Sim City constantly backing EA on their claims that Sim City being constant online only had nothing to do with DRM and it was the developers idea, and not EA, to do it, because they have to say it for the sake of their jobs. EA of course, has been rated the worse video game company to work for for many years in a row.
Ubisoft has been acting extra stupid lately.
Hahahahaha
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