Marc-Alexis Côté said that leaving Ubisoft was not his decision.

Marc-Alexis Côté, the former head of the franchise Assassin's Creed, confirmed that his dismissal from Ubisoft was a company decision, not a voluntary move. After 20 years at Ubisoft, including 16 years on the Assassin's Creed team and three years as the series' creative lead, Côté left amid reorganization in connection with the creation of Vantage Studios - a new division that included brands Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six и Far Cry.

According to Ubisoft, Côté was offered "various leadership roles" within Vantage Studios, but allegedly "declined." However, Côté himself refuted this statement in a LinkedIn post, emphasizing that did not make the choice to leave"Ubisoft decided to hand over the leadership of Assassin's Creed to someone more aligned with the new organizational structure. The position in question had neither authority nor continuity."

Côté added that he felt no resentment, but felt it was his duty to state honestly: "I didn't leave on my own—I was asked to leave."He expressed gratitude to Ubisoft for the years of work, but emphasized that the departure of an experienced veteran who knows the franchise from the inside could damage stability and continuity in Assassin's Creed.

Given that new management at Vantage Studios With Charlie Guillemot (son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot) and Christophe Derenne at the helm, it remains to be seen whether they can maintain the series' direction and scope without one of its main architects.