Ubisoft’s main originative officer, Igor Manceau, volition measurement down adjacent period aft lone a twelvemonth successful that presumption astatine the troubled Assassin’s Creed publisher, the institution announced internally connected Thursday. According to a connection to unit from CEO Yves Guillemot, the determination comes arsenic portion of a larger alteration successful however immoderate of the originative departments astatine the sprawling crippled shaper are organized.

“For idiosyncratic reasons, Igor has expressed his tendency to measurement distant from Ubisoft and, pursuing this decision, we privation to update you connected however we’re approaching this transformation,” Guillemot wrote successful the email, a transcript of which was shared with Kotaku. “From present until his departure extremity of November, Igor volition beryllium dedicated to accompanying the improvement of the operation into circumstantial poles organized by cardinal segments for Ubisoft truthful that it is amended adapted to the assortment of our portfolio and unsocial needs of each project.”

According to the email, the extremity of the ongoing reorganization is to “simplify” however projects are overseen and marshalled done improvement by the caput bureau successful Paris, and assistance springiness studios much flexibility and autonomy. Ubisoft has a analyzable system by which games are greenlit and approved done assorted stages of production, which immoderate existent and erstwhile developers implicit the years person blamed for stymieing creativity and making the process overly political.

It’s not wide from the email if Manceau volition beryllium replaced. He lone took implicit the presumption aft starring the Riders Republic studio, Ubisoft Annecy, successful September 2021, a twelvemonth aft his predecessor, longtime seasoned Serge Hascoët, resigned amidst the company’s workplace reckoning with allegations of intersexual misconduct. Manceau’s departure, and Ubisoft’s attempts to go much nimble, besides travel arsenic the steadfast faces 1 of its biggest merchandise draughts successful caller years. Big blockbusters similar Skull and Bones and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora were the latest to look caller delays arsenic the institution grapples with the fallout from the pandemic and reported turnover among immoderate of its astir elder originative talent.

In the meantime, Ubisoft has attempted to double-down connected Assassin’s Creed. While Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will get its past post-launch update aboriginal this year, aggregate caller games are presently successful development, including Assassin’s Creed Mirage, a smaller stealth-based crippled releasing adjacent year, and Project Red, an open-world RPG acceptable successful Japan that’s inactive a mates years out. An online multiplayer spin-off and 2 mobile Assassin’s Creed games are besides planned.

Ubisoft did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Update: 10/6/22 1:17 p.m. ET: A spokesperson declined to remark further, and alternatively directed Kotaku to an authoritative property merchandise astir the instauration of a caller Global Creative Office astatine Ubisoft that volition be “structured astir poles, moving distant from a centralized organization.”

“Over the past 24 years I got the accidental to conscionable and enactment with talented and inspiring teams astir the world,” Manceau said successful a statement. “I americium grateful for the accidental to person taken portion successful this fantastic adventure. I americium assured successful Ubisoft’s imaginable to proceed astonishing and delighting players for years to come.”