Who Is Benoit Richer and Why His Role Mattered
Benoit Richer’s exit from Ubisoft marks the loss of a veteran game director at a critical moment for Assassin’s Creed Hexe. After starting at Ubisoft Montreal in 2001 as a level designer, Richer built a reputation across major studios, including Electronic Arts and WB Games Montreal, where he served as game director on Batman: Arkham Origins. He later returned to Ubisoft, co-directing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla before taking the game director role on Hexe, a darker, narrative-driven entry in the franchise. As game director, Richer translated the creative vision into playable realities: overseeing level design, core systems, and moment-to-moment gameplay. While creative directors define the artistic and thematic direction, game directors ensure those ideas actually work in practice. Richer’s decision to leave and co-found Servo Games, an indie studio in Quebec, therefore removes a key executional leader from Hexe at a time when Ubisoft is promising a highly ambitious new experience.
A String of Departures: Inside Hexe’s Leadership Turbulence
Richer’s departure is part of a broader pattern of game development leadership changes surrounding Assassin’s Creed Hexe. In recent months, the project has lost several high-profile figures. Former franchise lead Marc-Alexis Côté left after the Assassin’s Creed brand was shifted to Tencent-supported Vantage Studios, later filing a lawsuit alleging indirect dismissal. Creative director Clint Hocking exited amid a wider Ubisoft restructuring, vacating the role that originally shaped Hexe’s “unique, darker, narrative driven” identity. Now, Richer’s move to Servo Games marks the third major departure from the Hexe team in a short span. Each role controlled a different layer of the project: Côté at franchise level, Hocking on creative vision, and Richer on game execution. Together, their exits raise questions about stability, continuity, and how Ubisoft will preserve cohesion on a title positioned as one of the series’ next big bets.
How Losing Key Directors Can Disrupt Game Development
High-level departures rarely halt a AAA project outright, but they can introduce friction at multiple stages of development. Creative directors like Hocking typically define themes, tone, narrative focus, and high-level design pillars. Game directors like Richer convert those pillars into concrete mechanics, mission structures, and pacing. When both roles change hands midstream, teams may face re-evaluated priorities, revised roadmaps, and the risk of feature creep or rework. In Hexe’s case, Ubisoft has acknowledged that the game is ambitious and that the team is “taking the time” to deliver on its vision. Leadership turnover could extend pre-production or force certain systems back to the design table. It may also affect team morale, as developers adjust to new expectations and communication styles. However, because Ubisoft Montreal relies on large, veteran teams, the core production pipeline can continue even as new leaders reinterpret or refine the project’s direction.
Jean Guesdon’s New Role and Ubisoft’s Hexe Strategy
Following Clint Hocking’s exit, Assassin’s Creed franchise head Jean Guesdon has stepped in as creative director for Hexe. Guesdon has emphasized that Hexe is being crafted by a veteran Montreal team as a darker, narrative-driven experience set during a pivotal historical moment, and that Ubisoft intends to remain quiet while the project matures. His dual position—overseeing the franchise while leading Hexe’s creative direction—could bring tighter alignment between this experimental title and the broader Assassin’s Creed roadmap. Meanwhile, Ubisoft continues to expand its pipeline, with Hexe among four premium Assassin’s Creed projects in development and Vantage Studios contributing to both the franchise and Far Cry. Within this context, Guesdon’s leadership may focus on ensuring Hexe complements other entries like the Black Flag remake and multiplayer project Codename Invictus, rather than competing with them. The restructuring suggests Ubisoft wants a more centralized, strategically coordinated approach to how each game in the series differentiates itself.
What the Future of Assassin’s Creed Hexe Could Look Like
Despite the recent leadership shakeup, Ubisoft maintains that Assassin’s Creed Hexe development is ongoing and in careful hands. With Guesdon now shaping the creative direction and a seasoned Montreal team executing, the project may lean even harder into its identity as a darker, more narrative-driven experience. Richer’s departure to Servo Games removes one of the key architects of Hexe’s gameplay, but it does not erase the work already completed nor the structural support offered by Ubisoft’s wider studios. In the short term, players following Assassin’s Creed Hexe news should expect a prolonged information blackout while the team recalibrates. Longer term, the wave of game development leadership changes may result in a version of Hexe that reflects Ubisoft’s new studio configuration and strategic partnerships. If the publisher successfully manages the transition, Hexe could emerge as both a bold spin on the formula and a test case for how Ubisoft handles ambitious, multi-studio franchise projects.