When people like that walk out, it tells you something about the place
After seventeen years of helping shape one of gaming's most recognisable franchises, Jean Guesdon has quietly stepped away from Ubisoft Montreal — a departure that arrives not in isolation, but as part of a longer, slower unravelling of the institutional memory that once made the studio formidable. His exit asks a question that studios rarely answer honestly: at what point does the loss of the people who built something become the loss of the thing itself?
- Guesdon announced his departure via LinkedIn with measured warmth and a smiling emoji, revealing nothing about where he is headed next.
- His exit lands at a precarious moment — Ubisoft is cancelling unannounced projects, consolidating around proven franchises, and facing sustained pressure from investors and players to justify its creative direction.
- The voxel-based collaborative game Renaissance, which Guesdon had been quietly steering for five years and which insiders considered one of the studio's more promising bets, now faces an uncertain future without its creative lead.
- This is not an isolated goodbye — it follows a wave of senior departures since 2021, including the game director and art director of Assassin's Creed, who have since landed at EA Motive and Haven Studios respectively.
- Ubisoft insists the bleeding has slowed, pointing to stabilised attrition figures and the return of narrative director Darby McDevitt, but Guesdon's departure keeps the question of talent retention uncomfortably alive.
Jean Guesdon spent seventeen years at Ubisoft Montreal, rising from project coordinator on the original Assassin's Creed to creative director on two of its most celebrated entries — Black Flag and Origins. On Thursday, he announced via LinkedIn that 2023 would begin with his departure, offering gratitude for the years spent and silence on what comes next.
His career traced the franchise's most prolific era. Beyond his director credits, he served as game designer on Assassin's Creed 2 and head of content for the broader series — a trajectory built on institutional knowledge accumulated across nearly two decades. For the past five years, he had been leading creative direction on a project codenamed Renaissance, described by former colleagues as a promising voxel-based collaborative game with echoes of Minecraft. His exit leaves its future uncertain at a moment when Ubisoft is actively cutting unannounced titles and pulling resources toward established properties.
Guesdon's departure is the latest chapter in a pattern that sharpened in 2021, when game director Eric Baptizat and art director Raphael Lacoste both left — Baptizat for EA Motive, Lacoste for Jade Raymond's Haven Studios. Ubisoft's chief people officer has told staff that senior attrition has since stabilised, and some veterans, including narrative director Darby McDevitt, have returned. The company continues to announce new Assassin's Creed projects, mobile spinoffs, and a Netflix adaptation.
Still, losing someone who helped define the franchise during its most commercially and creatively ambitious years carries weight that stabilisation figures cannot fully absorb. Whether Guesdon's exit reflects a studio in genuine flux or simply the natural movement of a veteran ready for something new, the question it leaves behind is the harder one: how much of what made a studio great lives in its people, and how long can it afford to watch them leave?
Jean Guesdon spent seventeen years at Ubisoft Montreal, climbing from project coordinator on the original Assassin's Creed to creative director on two of the franchise's most celebrated entries. On Thursday, he announced he was leaving. The departure marks another significant loss for a publisher already contending with project cancellations, production delays, and a reputation for struggling to hold onto experienced talent.
Guesdon's announcement came via LinkedIn, where he reflected on his tenure with measured gratitude. "2023 will start for me with the end of a bit more than 17 formidable years at Ubisoft Montreal," he wrote, acknowledging the skills he'd accumulated and the projects he'd shipped. He did not disclose his next destination. The post carried a smiling emoji but offered no hint of what comes next.
His most visible work came as creative director on Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin's Creed Origins—both widely regarded as high points in a franchise that has defined much of Ubisoft's commercial identity. Before those roles, he'd worked as a game designer on Assassin's Creed 2 and served as head of content for the entire series. The trajectory was steady, earned through years of institutional knowledge and demonstrated competence.
For the past five years, Guesdon had been leading creative direction on an undisclosed project at the studio, internally codenamed Renaissance. According to three former Ubisoft developers who spoke with knowledge of the work, it was a collaborative voxel-based game with conceptual echoes of Minecraft—and they considered it among the more promising titles in the company's current pipeline. His departure raises questions about the project's momentum at a moment when Ubisoft is actively canceling unannounced games and consolidating resources around established franchises.
Guesdon's exit is the latest in a pattern that has accelerated since 2021. That year saw what was reported as an "exodus" of senior talent, including game director Eric Baptizat and franchise art director Raphael Lacoste, both of whom had spent years building the Assassin's Creed universe. Baptizat moved to EA Motive; Lacoste joined Haven, a newer Montreal studio founded by Jade Raymond, herself a Ubisoft veteran. The departures reflected broader industry concerns about the publisher's ability to retain experienced developers.
Not all movement has been outbound. Ubisoft's chief people officer, Anika Grant, told staff at a recent all-hands meeting that attrition among senior developers had stabilized in recent months after the 2021 surge. Some veterans have even returned—narrative director Darby McDevitt rejoined the Assassin's Creed team after time away. And the company has signaled continued investment in the franchise, announcing multiple new Assassin's Creed games in development alongside mobile spinoffs and a Netflix adaptation.
Still, Guesdon's departure arrives during a period of visible strain. Ubisoft has faced mounting pressure to deliver on delayed projects and justify its creative direction to investors and players alike. The loss of someone who helped define the franchise during its most prolific period—when the studio was shipping a major new Assassin's Creed game almost every year—represents both a symbolic and practical loss. Whether his exit signals deeper instability or simply reflects the natural churn of a veteran developer moving on remains to be seen.
Notable Quotes
2023 will start for me with the end of a bit more than 17 formidable years at Ubisoft Montreal. So many people met, so many skills learned and so many projects shipped.— Jean Guesdon, via LinkedIn
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that someone leaves after seventeen years? People change jobs.
True, but Guesdon wasn't just anyone. He shaped two of the most successful games in a franchise worth billions. When people like that walk out the door, it tells you something about the health of the place they're leaving.
Which is what?
That even with job security and seniority, the environment isn't holding people. Ubisoft says attrition is stabilizing, but they're also canceling projects and cutting costs. That's a squeeze.
What about the game he was working on—Renaissance?
That's the real question. It was considered promising. Now it loses its creative director mid-development. That's momentum lost, and at a company already struggling with delays, that's a wound.
Do you think he'll go to a competitor?
Almost certainly. Someone with his track record doesn't leave the industry. He goes somewhere that wants what he knows. The question is whether Ubisoft can replace that institutional memory.
Can they?
Not quickly. That's the thing about losing veterans. You can hire new people, but you can't buy back the years they spent learning how the machine works.