Ubisoft has set three executives as the new leaders of its iconic “Assassin’s Creed” video game franchise, including alums who oversaw work on beloved title “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.”
Vantage Studios, the Ubisoft subsidiary that operates the “Assassin’s Creed,” “Rainbow Six Siege” and “Far Cry” franchises, has named Martin Schelling head of the “Assassin’s Creed” brand. With this new title, Schelling will be responsible for overall strategy and long-term vision of the brand. Most recently, Schelling served as Ubisoft’s chief production officer and oversaw development workflows across the company’s portfolio. Schelling previously had leadership roles on “Assassin’s Creed” titles including “Revelations,” “Black Flag,” “Origins” and “Valhalla.”
Creative director on both “Assassin’s Creed Origins” and “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag,” Jean Guesdon has been appointed head of content for the franchise. Guesdon will oversee the Ubisoft brand’s creative direction, support individual games and guide the future of “Assassin’s Creed” “while staying true to its core DNA.” A veteran designer at Ubisoft, Guesdon’s credits trace back to the original 2007 “Assassin’s Creed” game.
François de Billy has been set as the brand’s head of production excellence, a title that Ubisoft’s Vantage Studios says is is meant to “strengthen production practices and execution across the brand.” François was production director on both “Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla” and “Assassin’s Creed: Origins.”
The new trio will transition from their current roles over to the “Assassin’s Creed” leadership team in the coming weeks to work alongside Andrée-Anne Boisvert, producer for “Assassin’s Creed’s” cross-brand initiatives and head of technological excellence, and Lionel Hiller, vice president of brand and go-to-market strategy.
These appointments come on the heels of great change across Ubisoft, which is in the process of dividing up all of its teams into five “creative houses,” one of them being Vantage Studios. This new model is being pioneered by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot as part of the company’s latest restructuring of operations amid weak post-pandemic performance.