After 20 Years, Assassin's Creed Boss Leaves Ubisoft as Tencent-Backed Spinoff Takes the Reins

Assassin's Creed just lost one of its longtime architects. Marc-Alexis Cote has exited Ubisoft after roughly 20 years, and the timing is hard to ignore: Ubisoft is spinning up a new outfit, Vantage Studios, to run Assassin's Creed and a few other flagship series, with money coming in part from Tencent.

So what is Vantage Studios and why now?

• Ubisoft announced a company-wide reorg back in March 2025. Out of that comes Vantage Studios, a new venture that reportedly started operating on October 1.
• Vantage is taking point on Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six. Think of it as a hub for the big brands.
• Funding is partially from Tencent. Ubisoft still positions itself as the creative driver, but the financing is not purely internal.
• Early chatter says the goal is less top-down control. Individual game teams are expected to have more direct say over their projects instead of everything being bottlenecked at the center.

Cote is out, by choice, after the reshuffle

Ubisoft says Cote chose to move on following the March restructuring. In a note shared with press, the company did the usual heartfelt thank-yous and credited him with helping define Assassin's Creed over the years. Internally, an email later echoed by VGC said he was offered several ways to be part of the new leadership group shaping strategy, but he declined and decided to start his next chapter elsewhere.

What he did there

Cote joined Ubisoft in 2005 as a software engineer, cutting his teeth on PSP tie-ins like Open Season and Surf's Up. By 2008, he was a lead level designer on the fan-favorite Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and he kept climbing from there across multiple AC entries.

In 2022, he stepped into the role of vice president executive producer for Assassin's Creed. That meant two jobs at once: steering the overall direction of the franchise and being its public face. When Assassin's Creed Shadows drew racist backlash, he publicly condemned it, calling out the intolerance and the personal attacks aimed at the team.

What this means for Assassin's Creed right now

Short term, the franchise does not flip overnight, but expect the operating model to shift under Vantage. The idea of giving individual dev teams more direct control could be great for creative variety, or it could get messy if the guardrails are not clear. We will see which way it breaks.

On the more sensitive front: Ubisoft maintains it has creative control over the upcoming Assassin's Creed Mirage DLC. That content is set in Saudi Arabia, was announced in the country, and, per reports, even some employees worry it might be funded there. Ubisoft says it is steering the creative side regardless.

Bottom line

Cote leaving as Ubisoft reorganizes and hands its crown jewels to a new, partially Tencent-funded venture is not nothing. It is a real change in who calls the shots and how decisions flow. If the plan to decentralize actually sticks, the next wave of Assassin's Creed projects could feel more distinct from each other. Whether that is a win or a headache depends on execution.