Another day, another major Ubisoft developer leaves the company. This time it’s one of the longest-tenured employees in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Raphael Lacoste, who has been the franchise Art Director for the Assassin’s Creed series, has announced that he has left the company after being there for 16 years. As we already mentioned, this is the newest in what appears to be slow but steady exodus of developers leaving the company after allegation’s of abuse and harassment surrounded the company for the majority of last year.
As we already mentioned, Lacoste has been involved with nearly all of the major Assassin Creed titles, with the most recent being the critically acclaimed Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which launched last year. His other works include the very first Assassin Creed title in 2007, Assassin Creed: Revelations in 2012, Assassins Creed: Black Flag in 2013, and Assassins Creed: Origins in 2017. Lacoste did not wait long after revealing his departure though as he also announced just a few hours later that he has officially joined Haven Studios as their new Art Director. Haven is a newer studio in Montreal that consists mostly of former Ubisoft developers.
As for Ubisoft, publication Axios reached out and asked about the newest departure. Ubisoft responded by stating that their turnover rate was “in line with video game industry averages, and we continue to attract, retain and foster some of the best talent in the world.” This statement can be interpreted in a number of ways, but the fact is that it’s not just developers that are leaving, it’s major leadership as well. Along with Lacoste, Narrative Director Darby McDevitt and Game Director Eric Baptizat have also left Ubisoft recently, with the latter joining EA just last month. In the same month, Managing Director David Polfeldt, another major employee, went on 6 month sabbatical.