Some creative works are not merely made but fought for — across courtrooms, bankruptcies, and the slow erosion of time. Patrice Desilets, the Quebec designer who gave the world Assassin's Creed, has spent fifteen years reclaiming a game he conceived in Amsterdam in 2011, only to watch it pass through corporate hands, legal disputes, and a global pandemic before it could reach players. The release of 1666: Amsterdam in August 2026 is less a product launch than the closing of a long human chapter — a reminder that authorship, in the age of corporate IP, is rarely a simple thing to hold.
Assassin's Creed Creator Desilets Finds Redemption With 1666: Amsterdam After 15-Year Battle
I want to be the Clint Eastwood of video games
Mark
So he spent fifteen years fighting for a game that was essentially taken from him. What was the actual legal mechanism? Did Ubisoft own it outright, or was there a contract dispute?
Mimi
When THQ Montreal went bankrupt in 2013, Ubisoft bought the studio's assets—which included the game in development. Desilets was then fired months later. The source doesn't detail the specific legal arguments, just that there were years of wrangling before he got the rights back in 2016.
Luke
That's the gap, though. We don't know what the legal case actually was. Was it a work-for-hire dispute? Did he have partial ownership? The source just says "legal wrangling." We know the outcome—he got it back—but not the mechanism.
Mark
Fair point. But the emotional weight is clear: he nearly cried before showing it. That's real.
Mimi
It is. And he calls it a "very personal" battle. For him, it wasn't just about the game—it was about reclaiming something that was taken from him, then building his own studio while waiting for the chance to finish it.
Luke
The timeline is interesting too. He left Ubisoft in 2011, started the game at THQ Montreal, lost it in 2013, founded Panache Digital Games, made Ancestors in 2019, then came back to 1666. That's a lot of detours.
Mark
And the pandemic slowed it down again. So even after getting the rights back in 2016, it still took a decade to finish.
Mimi
Yes. But now it's out in early access, and people are responding well to it. The AI controversy is minor—he's already removed all the AI elements.
Luke
Though we should note: we don't have sales figures, we don't have player numbers, we don't have concrete metrics on how well it's actually doing. "Very satisfied" with feedback is subjective.
Mark
True. But the fact that Ubisoft is making their own witch-hunt game now—is that a coincidence?
Mimi
Desilets seemed to take it in stride. He said it's an interesting subject, so of course Ubisoft would be interested. But the timing is curious.
Luke
We can't know if it's coincidence or if someone at Ubisoft saw what he was working on. The source doesn't tell us that.
Le Pouls
- A game designer stood backstage at Summer Game Fest nearly in tears, thirty seconds from showing the world something that had cost him fifteen years of his life.
- THQ Montreal's 2013 bankruptcy handed Desilets' unfinished vision to Ubisoft, the very company he had left — and months later, they fired him too.
- Three years of legal battles followed before he recovered the rights in 2016, only for a global pandemic to slow the rebuild once more.
- The game launched in early access August 25 to warm reception, though controversy over AI-generated content in the prologue prompted the studio to remove it entirely.
- Ubisoft is now developing its own witch-hunt Assassin's Creed title called Hexe, a coincidence Desilets met with a diplomat's smile rather than a rival's scowl.
- At 52, he has ruled out any return to the franchise that made him famous, declaring instead his intention to keep creating independently — the Clint Eastwood of video games.
Some creative works are not merely made but fought for — across courtrooms, bankruptcies, and the slow erosion of time. Patrice Desilets, the Quebec designer who gave the world Assassin's Creed, has spent fifteen years reclaiming a game he conceived in Amsterdam in 2011, only to watch it pass through corporate hands, legal disputes, and a global pandemic before it could reach players. The release of 1666: Amsterdam in August 2026 is less a product launch than the closing of a long human chapter — a reminder that authorship, in the age of corporate IP, is rarely a simple thing to hold.
Patrice Desilets was backstage at Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles last June, nearly in tears, thirty seconds from presenting 1666: Amsterdam to an audience that had no idea what it had taken to get there. The 52-year-old Quebec designer created Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time — two of Ubisoft Montreal's defining franchises — but the game he was about to show the world had cost him something far more personal than any hit ever had.
He conceived 1666: Amsterdam in 2011, shortly after leaving Ubisoft, during a trip to the Netherlands. The concept was ambitious: a witch navigating three distinct time periods — 1666, 1999, and the present day — across a richly layered historical world. He brought it to THQ Montreal. Then THQ collapsed. In 2013, Ubisoft bought the studio's assets, inherited his unfinished game, and fired him months later. It took three years of legal battles before Desilets recovered the rights in 2016.
He had already founded Panache Digital Games by then and released Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey in 2019, but 1666 never left him. He returned to it. The pandemic slowed things further. Still, with a team of roughly seventy people, he finished it — or at least the first two chapters, which launched in early access on August 25 for PC, with a full dozen chapters planned.
Reception at Summer Game Fest was warm, though the game drew criticism for AI-generated content used in pre-production that surfaced in the prologue. Desilets acknowledged it and said the studio has since removed all such material and abandoned the technology. There is a quiet irony in the moment: Ubisoft is now developing a witch-hunt-themed Assassin's Creed called Hexe. Asked about it, Desilets smiled and called the subject genuinely interesting — no bitterness, just the equanimity of someone who has already won his fight.
He has no desire to return to Assassin's Creed. Independent now, he intends to stay that way — making games into old age, on his own terms, like the Clint Eastwood of video games. The fifteen-year battle is over. What comes next belongs entirely to him.
Patrice Desilets stood backstage at Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles last June, thirty seconds away from presenting his new game to the world. He was nearly in tears. After fifteen years of legal battles, studio bankruptcies, and the loss of his own creation to corporate ownership, the 52-year-old Quebec game designer was about to show 1666: Amsterdam to an audience that had no idea what it had cost him to get there.
Desilets created Assassin's Creed. He also created Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Both were massive hits for Ubisoft Montreal in the 2000s, the kind of franchises that define a studio's output for a generation. But in 2011, a few months after leaving Ubisoft, he traveled to Amsterdam and conceived of a different game entirely—one that would follow a witch through three distinct time periods: 1666, 1999, and the present day. He joined THQ Montreal to develop it, imagining a rich 3-D world where players could explore multiple narrative timelines across historical eras.
Then THQ Montreal collapsed. In 2013, the studio went bankrupt, and Ubisoft bought its assets—including Desilets' unfinished game. Months later, Desilets was fired. "It went badly," he said flatly when recounting the episode at Gamescom in Cologne. What followed was years of legal wrangling. He did not regain the rights to 1666: Amsterdam until 2016, three years after losing them.
In the interim, Desilets founded his own studio, Panache Digital Games, and channeled his energy into a different project: Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, which released in 2019. But 1666: Amsterdam never left his mind. When he finally had the rights back, he returned to it. The Covid-19 pandemic slowed production again. Still, he persisted. Now, with a team of roughly seventy people, the game exists.
The first two chapters launched in early access on August 25 for PC. The full version will contain about a dozen chapters, Desilets said. Players control a witch moving through the European witch hunts era and across the three time periods, each with its own visual and narrative logic. The reception at Summer Game Fest was warm. Desilets reported being "very satisfied" with initial feedback, though he released no sales figures or projections.
The game did draw criticism over its use of generative AI in pre-production—some of those elements made it into the prologue. Desilets acknowledged the choice and said the studio has since removed all AI-generated content from the game and stopped using the technology altogether. There is a certain irony in the timing: Ubisoft, the company that once owned his work, is preparing its own witch-hunt-themed Assassin's Creed game called Hexe. When asked about it, Desilets smiled. "All the better if Ubi is interested in this subject," he said. "I agree with them, it's an interesting subject."
At 52, Desilets has no interest in returning to the franchise that made his name. He is independent now, running his own studio, and he intends to stay that way. "I want to be the Clint Eastwood of video games," he said—to keep making games into old age because he loves the work. The fifteen-year battle for 1666: Amsterdam is over. What comes next is his to decide.
Citations marquantes
30 seconds earlier, I was almost crying. The moment marked the end of a very personal battle.— Patrice Desilets, speaking at Gamescom in Cologne
I'm independent, I have my own studio. That time is kind of over," when asked if he would ever return to Assassin's Creed.— Patrice Desilets
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