Ex-Assassin’s Creed Boss Suing Ubisoft for CAD $1.3 Million, Alleges His ‘Disguised Dismissal’ Was to Avoid Severance Pay

Ubisoft told staff of Côté’s departure via an internal email that discussed the need for Vantage Studios’ leadership team to be “aligned” with its core goals. At the time, IGN reported that Côté had been offered a role as part of Vantage Studios’ leadership, but declined.

Côté’s lawsuit claims that he was essentially replaced in his role early in 2025 by Vantage Studios’ newly-installed leadership, Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot — the cousin and son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. With this layer of management now above him, Côté claims he then learned over the summer of 2025 that Vantage was now seeking to hire a new Assassin’s Creed franchise boss, too.

Radio Canada’s report suggests that Côté enquired about the role but was told he was not suitable and would not be supported by Yves Guillemot, as the position was to be based in Ubisoft’s base in France, rather than in Canada, where Côté is based and every major Assassin’s Creed title has been led.

Côté’s lawsuit allegedly claims that he was offered a “Head of Production” role, reporting into the incoming new “Head of Franchise”, and then alternatively the chance to lead another business unit, working on second-tier Ubisoft franchises.

During a two-week period of reflection on what to do next, Côté told Ubisoft his exit from the company would require severance pay. It was at this point that Ubisoft allegedly told Côté not to show up for work as expected on October 13 and await a formal response. The following day, October 14, Ubisoft announced that Côté had departed.

In an internal note to Ubisoft staff obtained by IGN at the time, Derennes said he was “disappointed” by Côté’s decision, but that the former leader “had his own expectations and priorities related to Vantage Studios’ creation and future.”

“Following the organizational restructuring announced in March 2025, Marc-Alexis Côté has chosen to pursue a new path elsewhere outside of Ubisoft,” a Ubisoft spokesperson said in a comment to IGN at the time. “While we are saddened to see him go, we’re confident that our talented teams will carry forward the strong foundation he helped build.”

Now, Côté’s lawsuit alleges his exit from Ubisoft constituted an abuse of power and resulted in damage to his reputation. The amount he is seeking — CAD $1.3 million — is the sum of two years’ salary and a further CAD $75,000 in damages. Côté is also seeking for Ubisoft to lift his non-compete agreement, which currently limits his ability to work elsewhere.

Representatives for Côté have confirmed the lawsuit. IGN has contacted Ubisoft for comment.

Côté, known to colleagues by his initials as “Mac”, joined Ubisoft in 2005 as a software engineer, before working as a lead engine programmer on Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. From there, he joined the Assassin’s Creed series in time for Brotherhood, working as a lead level designer, before serving as a game director on Assassin’s Creed 3.

As creative director, Côté led development on a string of projects built at Ubisoft Quebec, the talented team which made Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag DLC Freedom Cry, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, and then Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, for which he served as senior producer.

In March 2022, as Quebec worked on Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Ubisoft sought to relaunch the series with a more consistent story focus via the Animus Hub (a project then envisioned under the title of Assassin’s Creed Infinity), it was Côté that took the reigns on the entire franchise, laying out a Marvel-style slate of upcoming projects that included the forthcoming Assassin’s Creed Hexe, which still lacks a release date. The next release in the franchise is widely-expected to be an Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remaster, meanwhile.

Image credit: Andrej Ivanov/AFP via Getty Images.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social