Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Hexe is not enjoying a smooth development, as another director departs the project within the space of a few months.
Ubisoft’s remake of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag may have taken the spotlight recently, but the company is working on several other games in the franchise.
Along with a multiplayer title codenamed Invictus and a mobile game called Assassin’s Creed: Jade, there is Assassin’s Creed Hexe. Developer Ubisoft Montreal hasn’t officially revealed the game’s setting, but according to reports, it’s a witch trial-themed entry set in central Europe during the 16th century.
Ubisoft recently described Hexe as a ‘darker, narrative driven’ entry ‘set during a pivotal moment in history’. While we have very few official details on the project, we do know it’s undergone some drastic changes behind the scenes, after the last few years.
The game’s creative director, Clint Hocking, left Ubisoft in February and was replaced by Jean Guesdon, and now game director Benoit Richer has announced his departure as well.
As revealed in a post on LinkedIn, Richer is leaving Ubisoft Montreal to join Quebec-based indie studio Servo Games as a co-founder and game director.
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‘This is the beginning of a new chapter: I’m joining Servo Games as Game Director!’ he wrote. ‘An indie studio of industry veterans, aligned around a shared vision of the industry and experience creation, with a strong complementary skill set.’
It’s worth nothing that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was also made up of a group of ex-Ubisoft developers, so setting up your own studio must seem very tempting right now, to anyone at the company.
Assassin’s Creed Hexe was announced in 2022, but it’s unclear how far along it actually is. Last month, Ubisoft said we wouldn’t hear anything more about it for a ‘little longer’, which implies it could be revealed later this year, presumably after the launch of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced on July 9, 2026.
Hexe is expected to be the next major mainline entry following Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and reports suggested it will include more supernatural elements, including the ability to possess a cat familiar.
However, YouTuber j0nathan, who has proven contacts within Ubisoft, has claimed on X that the game’s new creative director has decided to ‘get rid of everything that was ‘magical’ in Hexe’ since his appointment in February, including the ability to control a cat.
The same insider has also claimed Ubisoft is working on a remake of the original Assassin’s Creed, in light of recent rumours around another remake being in development.
If true, this makes sense from a story perspective as it’s the start of Desmond’s arc, but gameplay wise the first Assassin’s Creed will require a substantial overhaul to be acceptable to modern standards.
At the time, it was largely considered a disappointment, with the series only really taking off with 2009’s Assassin’s Creed 2.
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