Ubisoft Splinter Cell and Far Cry Veteran Clint Hocking Leaves the Company as Assassin’s Creed Hexe Shifts Creative Leadership
Ubisoft has lost another long tenured creative leader during its ongoing organizational restructuring, with Clint Hocking now confirmed to be departing the company. Hocking is one of Ubisoft’s most recognizable veteran directors, having served as creative director on Splinter Cell Chaos Theory and Far Cry 2, later returning to the publisher to lead Watch Dogs Legion, and most recently taking the creative director role on Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe.
The departure was first reported by VGC, and Ubisoft’s follow up statement makes 2 key points for players watching Hexe closely. First, Ubisoft is positioning Hocking’s exit as a respectful transition rather than a derailment, thanking him for his vision and contributions. Second, Ubisoft stresses that development on Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe continues with a seasoned team and that the project will deliver something distinctive within the broader Assassin’s Creed franchise. In the same statement, Ubisoft confirms a new interim creative lead: Jean Guesdon, Head of Content for the Assassin’s Creed brand, is now acting as the project’s creative director.
From a portfolio perspective, this is not happening in a vacuum. Ubisoft recently signaled a major reset, and this change lands alongside broader franchise level restructuring and management reassignments. For Hexe specifically, the timing is notable because the project has remained largely under wraps since its announcement in 2022, with most public conversation driven by rumor cycles rather than official beats. When a project is already operating in a low visibility mode, a creative director departure becomes a high signal event for fans because it can affect tone, narrative direction, and overall cohesion even if the production pipeline continues uninterrupted.
Hocking’s Ubisoft story also matters because it spans 2 major eras of the company. His first run lasted 9 years and produced 2 of Ubisoft’s most influential games in their respective subgenres, Chaos Theory and Far Cry 2, both widely regarded as defining moments for stealth and systemic open world design. After leaving in 2010, he moved through a series of high profile industry stops including LucasArts, Valve, and Amazon Game Studios, then returned to Ubisoft in 2015. During his second tenure, he led Ubisoft Toronto on Watch Dogs Legion before moving onto work tied to the Assassin’s Creed organization for Hexe.
In corporate terms, Ubisoft is executing a leadership refresh that is increasingly visible at the senior creative layer. When multiple experienced directors exit during a reset, it reinforces the perception that the company is recalibrating what leadership looks like across its flagship brands. That does not automatically indicate a quality decline, but it does increase execution risk, especially for projects positioned as distinctive entries in a long running franchise where fans have strong expectations about identity, structure, and historical authenticity.
The big takeaway for players is straightforward. Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe is still in development, the project has a new acting creative director in Jean Guesdon, and Ubisoft is actively messaging that Hexe will aim to feel meaningfully different within the franchise. The next proof point will be when Ubisoft is ready to show the game, because that is where fans will be able to judge whether the vision is intact and whether the team can maintain creative consistency through leadership transition.
With Hexe still largely under wraps, do you feel more confident when Ubisoft promotes an internal leader like Jean Guesdon, or would you rather see a high profile external creative hire take the reins for a bold franchise shift?
