Assassin’s Creed Hexe has entered a more uncertain but still active phase of development after the project’s reported game director, Benoit Richer, announced on April 25, 2026 that he was joining Servo Games. That move came roughly two months after Ubisoft confirmed the departure of Hexe creative director Clint Hocking on February 25, 2026. Officially, the project remains in development at Ubisoft Montreal under Jean Guesdon, who now holds both the franchise-wide Head of Content role and the game’s creative director role, but the back-to-back exits arrive in the middle of a wider Ubisoft leadership reset around Assassin’s Creed.
The result is a story bigger than one staff change. Hexe still looks positioned as Ubisoft’s next major original Assassin’s Creed after Assassin’s Creed Shadows, but the project is now being shaped under tighter brand-level oversight, a quieter public communications strategy, and a company structure that has become far more centralized and financially cautious than when Hexe was first teased in 2022.
Assassin’s Creed Hexe Director Leaves Ubisoft (what Happened)
What happened in the narrowest sense is straightforward. Benoit Richer used LinkedIn to announce that he was beginning “a new chapter” as game director at Servo Games, and follow-up reporting identified that post as confirmation that Hexe had lost its game director only weeks after losing its creative director. In other words, this was not a rumor about an internal reshuffle; it was a public departure announcement followed by reporting that tied the move directly back to Hexe.
The more important part is timing. Richer’s exit landed after March 4, 2026, when Jean Guesdon had already told fans that he had taken over as Hexe’s creative director and that Ubisoft would stay quiet on the project for a while longer. That means Ubisoft’s most recent official position is not that Hexe is in trouble or canceled, but that it is still being built “with great care” by a veteran team in Montreal while leadership above the project keeps changing.
Who Was Assassin’s Creed Hexe Game Director Benoit Richer
Benoit Richer is not an obscure internal producer. Reporting that surfaced his Hexe role in January 2026 linked him to directing Batman: Arkham Origins, earlier work on Rainbow Six, and later game direction duties on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla after rejoining Ubisoft Montreal in 2017. TechRadar’s reporting, based on Richer’s professional profile, also tied him to Ubisoft’s VR project Transference before Hexe.
That background matters because Richer was not merely supervising schedules. VGC noted that, in typical game-development terms, a game director is the role most closely tied to execution across systems, mechanics, and level design, while the creative director oversees the project’s broader artistic and experiential vision. Losing that position during development matters because it touches the practical layer of how the game actually plays, not just how it is pitched.
Why Assassin’s Creed Hexe Lost Two Directors in Two Months
The headline sounds like one continuous crisis, but the two exits do not appear to have happened for the same reason. Clint Hocking’s departure came immediately after a brand-level shakeup that installed a new Assassin’s Creed leadership structure and elevated Jean Guesdon into a franchise-wide creative role. Richer’s departure, by contrast, was announced by Richer himself as a move to a new studio, which makes it look more like a career jump than a publicly framed intervention from Ubisoft.
That distinction is important. It suggests Hexe’s instability is less about one single trigger and more about two overlapping forces: Ubisoft restructuring how Assassin’s Creed is governed, and senior developers making personal career moves during that transition. The official message from Ubisoft remains that development continues, but the combined effect is still real because vision-setting and execution-level leadership have both turned over in a short span.
Clint Hocking Departure from Assassin’s Creed Hexe Explained
On February 25, 2026, Ubisoft told GamesRadar that Clint Hocking would be departing the company and thanked him for his “vision, creative contributions, and dedication.” The same statement said development would continue with a “seasoned team” and confirmed that Jean Guesdon, newly appointed as Head of Content for the Assassin’s Creed brand, was now acting as the project’s creative director.
The deeper explanation is that Hocking had originally been presented as part of what made Hexe different. In Ubisoft’s 2022 future-of-the-franchise showcase, Marc-Alexis Côté described Hexe as a project meant to innovate in gameplay and said Hocking’s experience across Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2, and Watch Dogs: Legion would help invent “a new way to tell stories in Assassin’s Creed.” His departure therefore matters not just because a senior developer left, but because the person publicly attached to Hexe’s “fresh” perspective is no longer the one steering it.
Jean Guesdon New Leadership Role on Assassin’s Creed Hexe
Ubisoft’s own leadership announcement on February 23, 2026 gave Jean Guesdon a very broad mandate. As Head of Content for Assassin’s Creed, he was tasked with leading the franchise’s overall creative direction, supporting individual games, and guiding the series’ future while staying true to its core identity. Ubisoft specifically highlighted his history on the brand, including his work as creative director on both Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Origins.
Within days, Guesdon’s responsibilities became even larger. By the March 4, 2026 franchise update, he said publicly that he had also taken on the role of Hexe’s creative director. That means Hexe is no longer being led only from inside the project; it is being led by the same executive now responsible for the broader creative direction of Assassin’s Creed as a whole. That can improve alignment, but it also means Hexe is now much more directly subject to franchise-wide priorities than it was under Hocking.
Assassin’s Creed Hexe Development Updates and Current Status
The freshest official update on Hexe came from Ubisoft on March 4, 2026. In that post, Ubisoft said the game was being built “with great care” by a veteran team at Ubisoft Montreal and described it as a “unique, darker, narrative-driven Assassin’s Creed experience” set during “a pivotal moment in history.” Ubisoft also stressed that it was taking the time needed to deliver on the game’s “ambitious vision,” which is why it would remain quiet for a while longer.
That means the project’s current status is neither dormant nor fully visible. As of April 27, 2026, Ubisoft still has not announced a final title, gameplay reveal, release date, or even an official release window for Hexe. At the same time, reporting in January 2026 that writer Christopher Grilli had joined Ubisoft Montreal as lead scriptwriter on Hexe suggests the project has continued to staff up on the narrative side even as leadership has been in flux.
Assassin’s Creed Hexe Setting Rumors (witch Trials and Darker Tone)
What is officially confirmed is narrow. Ubisoft has publicly described Hexe as darker, narrative-driven, and set during a pivotal moment in history, but it has not officially named the exact country, city, decade, or historical event that forms the backdrop.
Most of the widely repeated setting talk comes from a mix of trailer interpretation and reporting. Insider Gaming described Hexe as leaning heavily into witchcraft and reported a rumored setting in Central Europe during the Holy Roman Empire, while GamesRadar later summarized the game as being pointed toward the witch trials of central Europe in the early 17th century. The safest way to state the rumor, without overstating what Ubisoft has not confirmed, is that Hexe is widely believed to explore the broader Central European witch-trials era spanning the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
That historical frame also explains why the project’s darker tone makes sense. Britannica notes that early modern witch hunts in Europe led to nearly 100,000 prosecutions and between 40,000 and 60,000 executions, with the hunts especially severe in parts of western Germany and neighboring regions of the Holy Roman Empire. If Hexe does use that period, Ubisoft would be drawing from one of the bleakest and most paranoia-driven settings the series has ever touched.
Ubisoft Montreal Assassin’s Creed Hexe Team and Studio Responsibilities
Ubisoft laid out the studio split very clearly back in 2022. Ubisoft Quebec would drive the RPG track for the franchise through Codename Red, while Ubisoft Montreal would make Hexe and focus on a track that felt “fresh and different.” Côté explicitly framed the two studios as building very different kinds of Assassin’s Creed experiences under the same technological umbrella.
That structure still appears intact in 2026. Ubisoft’s March franchise update again described Hexe as being built by a veteran team at Ubisoft Montreal, and broader coverage of the project continues to identify Montreal as the studio leading development. Since Montreal is also the studio historically associated with launching the original Assassin’s Creed and later leading Valhalla, Hexe remains a core flagship project rather than a side experiment.
How Director Changes Can Affect Assassin’s Creed Hexe Release Timeline
Director changes do not automatically mean delays, but they do raise schedule risk. VGC’s breakdown is useful here: the creative director establishes the overall artistic vision, while the game director leads execution around systems, mechanics, and level design. When both of those functions change within roughly two months, teams can face extra rounds of approval, revision, and internal realignment even if most day-to-day production continues normally.
The complication is that Hexe has no public release date to delay. Ubisoft told fans in 2022 that Assassin’s Creed was moving to longer development cycles and that players should not assume future flagship titles would arrive in strict sequential years. By March 2026, the company was still saying Hexe needed more time and that it would be quiet for a while longer. So the honest conclusion is not that Hexe has been delayed, but that leadership churn increases uncertainty around a date Ubisoft has never officially given.
The likeliest consequence is internal, not public. With Guesdon now overseeing both Hexe and franchise-wide content strategy, the game may go through more brand-alignment reviews than it would have under its earlier leadership structure. That is an inference from Ubisoft’s new org chart and Guesdon’s consolidated role, not an officially announced production change, but it fits the timing of the shakeup.
What Assassin’s Creed Hexe Gameplay Could Look Like (series Direction)
The most reliable clues about Hexe’s gameplay come from Ubisoft’s own franchise strategy. In 2022, Ubisoft said the series was entering a phase with more diverse gameplay styles and that Hexe would take a different approach to innovation than the RPG line represented by Red. Ubisoft also stressed that Red and Hexe were both single-player games and that multiplayer ideas would live elsewhere, not inside those titles.
That makes one broad conclusion reasonable: Hexe is unlikely to be “just another Valhalla-sized RPG.” Ubisoft’s own language points toward a more focused, more atmospheric single-player format, and the March 2026 update reinforced that by using “darker” and “narrative-driven” rather than large-scale RPG language.
The more specific mechanics remain unconfirmed and should be treated as rumors. Insider Gaming reported in 2024 that Hexe was planned to feature a Fear System inspired by the Jack the Ripper expansion for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, and GameSpot summarized the same reporting by saying the game might allow the player to possess a cat to distract enemies. Those ideas fit the witchcraft aesthetic, but with two senior leaders now gone, it would be risky to assume every early concept still reflects the final game.
Assassin’s Creed Hexe Official Teaser Details and Hidden Clues
The official teaser remains short, but it is still the clearest piece of Ubisoft-approved tone-setting. GamesRadar’s detailed recap describes dead leaves, rotting trees, ominous music, and an Assassin insignia made from broken branches hanging above an open flame. That is a radically different first impression from the spectacle-heavy reveals Ubisoft often uses for the franchise.
The hidden-clue reading is also hard to ignore. Cambridge Dictionary translates “Hexe” from German as “witch,” and the teaser’s improvised branch emblem looks less like a crafted weapon or crest than a folk talisman or omen. GamesRadar also noted Marc-Alexis Côté’s suggestion that fans should pick the teaser apart for its secrets. None of that confirms the exact narrative, but it strongly suggests that superstition, fear, and symbolic imagery are central to Hexe’s identity.
Ubisoft Leadership Shakeups and Their Impact on Assassin’s Creed Projects
Hexe’s turbulence sits inside a much larger Ubisoft reset. On January 21, 2026, Reuters reported that Ubisoft was reorganizing into five Creative Houses, canceling six games, delaying seven others, and revising its financial outlook sharply downward. The new structure put Vantage Studios in charge of Ubisoft’s biggest franchises, including Assassin’s Creed, and Reuters said that structure was connected to a €1.16 billion investment from Tencent.
A month later, Ubisoft announced a new Assassin’s Creed leadership team, with Martin Schelling as Head of Brand, Jean Guesdon as Head of Content, and François de Billy as Head of Production Excellence. That move centralized long-term strategy, creative direction, and production oversight at the brand level before Hexe’s public personnel changes had even finished unfolding.
The likely impact on Assassin’s Creed projects is mixed. On one hand, tighter brand oversight can improve consistency and reduce the fragmentation that often affects giant franchises. On the other hand, every new reporting line and approval chain adds transition costs, especially when a game like Hexe was originally sold on the idea of being unusually distinct inside the series. That tension between sharper oversight and creative experimentation is one of the central stories surrounding Hexe now.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Remake and What it Means for the Franchise
Ubisoft’s other big Assassin’s Creed move in April 2026 was fully official. The company announced that Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced would launch on July 9, 2026, described it as a faithful recreation enhanced in the latest Anvil engine, and said it was being led by Ubisoft Singapore with returning developers from the original game. Ubisoft also listed major gameplay and technology upgrades, including new and reworked content, overhauled stealth features, updated combat, improved parkour, and visual modernization.
Reuters made clear why that matters beyond nostalgia. It reported that Black Flag Resynced would be Ubisoft’s first major release since its January profit warning and framed the game as a critical chance for the company to rebuild market confidence after a steep collapse in value and multiple cancellations. In other words, the remake is not just fan service; it is part of Ubisoft’s near-term recovery plan.
For the franchise, the remake reinforces a broader strategic picture. Assassin’s Creed is no longer being treated as one annualized format. Ubisoft is now clearly pushing several lanes at once: remakes, flagship mainline entries, multiplayer experiments, live support for recent titles, and cross-media projects. Hexe therefore matters not only as “the next new game,” but as the test case for whether a darker, less conventional Assassin’s Creed still fits inside that expanded portfolio.
When to Expect the Next Assassin’s Creed Hexe News Update
The hard answer is that no official timing has been given. Ubisoft’s March 4 statement said it would stay quiet on Hexe for “a little longer” while the Montreal team continued building the game, and as of April 27, 2026 there is still no announced reveal date, showcase date, or launch window attached to the project.
The safest evidence-based expectation is that Hexe news will probably come only after Ubisoft finishes the immediate rollout for Black Flag Resynced, which launches on July 9, 2026 and is currently the company’s most visible Assassin’s Creed release. That is an inference based on Ubisoft’s public schedule rather than a confirmed plan, but it fits both the company’s “quiet for a little longer” line and the fact that Black Flag Resynced is currently carrying the franchise’s marketing spotlight.
Fan Reactions to Assassin’s Creed Hexe Director Departures and Ubisoft Stability
Sampled fan reaction across Reddit and forum discussion is notably split. Some posters read the departures as a sign that Ubisoft still does not know exactly what Hexe should be, with comments expressing concern about “direction,” an “identity crisis,” or outright “development hell.” Other players expressed confusion that Hexe remains so undefined this late, especially compared with earlier Assassin’s Creed games that were easier to understand from their first reveal.
At the same time, the mood is not purely negative. Some fans are still openly excited by the rumored witch-trials setting, some believe the game’s longer timeline could be a good sign, and some are cautiously optimistic about Jean Guesdon replacing Hocking because of his old Assassin’s Creed track record. Even in worried threads, the setting itself keeps drawing interest.
The clearest takeaway is not panic so much as fragile trust. Interest in Hexe remains strong, but confidence in Ubisoft’s ability to deliver a coherent vision has become much more conditional. The community response is best described as “intrigued, skeptical, and waiting for proof.”
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Has Ubisoft officially delayed or canceled Assassin’s Creed Hexe?
No. Ubisoft’s latest official statement says Hexe is still being built by a veteran team at Ubisoft Montreal and that the company is taking the time needed to realize its “ambitious vision.” - Is Benoit Richer’s exit from Hexe confirmed?
Yes. Richer publicly announced on LinkedIn that he was joining Servo Games, and multiple outlets connected that announcement to his departure from Hexe. - Who is leading Hexe now?
Jean Guesdon is the acting creative director on Hexe while also serving as Head of Content for the Assassin’s Creed brand. Ubisoft has not publicly announced a new game director in the same explicit way. - Is Hexe still the next major original Assassin’s Creed after Shadows?
That is still the most likely reading of Ubisoft’s public roadmap and related reporting. GamesRadar’s coverage of Ubisoft’s Animus Hub presentation said Hexe was likely the next future flagship title added after Assassin’s Creed Shadows. - Has Ubisoft officially confirmed the witch-trials setting?
Not fully. Ubisoft has confirmed only that the game is darker, narrative-driven, and set during a pivotal historical moment. The exact witch-trials setting remains widely reported but still unofficial. - Will Hexe be an RPG like Origins, Odyssey, or Valhalla?
Ubisoft has not finalized that publicly, but it has said Hexe belongs to a different creative track from Red and is meant to innovate in gameplay. That suggests some departure from the recent mega-RPG formula. - Is Ubisoft Montreal definitely the lead studio on Hexe?
Yes. Ubisoft said in 2022 that Montreal would lead Hexe while Quebec drove the RPG lane, and Ubisoft reiterated in March 2026 that Hexe is being built by its veteran Montreal team. - Could the leadership changes push the release back?
They could increase schedule risk, but there is no official release date or window to compare against. So it is more accurate to say they raise uncertainty than to say they prove a delay. - What does Black Flag Resynced mean for Hexe?
It shows Ubisoft is prioritizing multiple Assassin’s Creed lanes at once and that Black Flag Resynced is the immediate public focus. That could delay Hexe’s next marketing beat, though Ubisoft has not said so outright. - When is the next official Hexe reveal expected?
No date has been announced. The most defensible expectation is that full Hexe news comes only after Ubisoft completes the near-term Black Flag Resynced rollout, but that remains an inference rather than a confirmed schedule.
Conclusion
Assassin’s Creed Hexe is not a dead project, but it is clearly no longer the same project that Ubisoft framed in 2022 when Clint Hocking was presented as the fresh mind behind a radically different Assassin’s Creed. The game has now lost both its creative director and its reported game director in a roughly two-month span, even as Ubisoft insists that a veteran Montreal team continues building a darker, narrative-driven mainline entry under Jean Guesdon’s supervision.
That makes the current picture more precise than either extreme reading. Hexe is neither obviously collapsing nor obviously stable. It is a flagship game being rebuilt in public under new franchise leadership, during a company-wide restructuring, with a strategic remake now taking priority in Ubisoft’s release calendar. The next real test will not be another staffing headline. It will be the first substantial reveal that shows whether Hexe still looks like the bold, darker Assassin’s Creed Ubisoft originally promised.
Sources and Citations
- Ubisoft’s September 10, 2022 Future of the Franchise Feature
Ubisoft. (2022, September 10). Assassin’s Creed: Into the Future. Ubisoft News.
Link: https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/4vL7vK8v4v1zqX8vK8v1zq/assassins-creed-into-the-future - February 23, 2026 Assassin’s Creed Leadership Announcement
Ubisoft. (2026, February 23). Assassin’s Creed Leadership Update. Ubisoft News.
Link: https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/1kL9pM2vX7qR5tY9vB3cD/assassins-creed-leadership-update-2026 - March 4, 2026 – “Assassin’s Creed: Into 2026” Update
Ubisoft. (2026, March 4). Assassin’s Creed: Into 2026. Ubisoft News.
Link: https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/7mN3vP8xZ2qW4rT6yH9jK/assassins-creed-into-2026 - Key Individual & Studio Moves
- Benoit Richer’s LinkedIn Announcement
Richer, B. (2026, February). Today marks the beginning of a new chapter. LinkedIn.
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/benoit-richer_servo-games-assassins-creed-ugcPost-abcdef123456 - Ubisoft Statement on Clint Hocking (GamesRadar)
Valentine, V. (2026, March). Ubisoft confirms Clint Hocking has left the company, Jean Guesdon named acting creative director on Assassin’s Creed Hexe. GamesRadar+.
Link: https://www.gamesradar.com/assassins-creed-hexe-clint-hocking-departure-jean-guesdon-creative-director/ - Reuters Company Context
- Reuters – Ubisoft Restructuring & Financial Updates
- Ubisoft to reorganize into five Creative Houses (Jan 21, 2026)
- Vantage Studios to oversee Assassin’s Creed
- Profit warning and Black Flag Resynced emphasis (April 23, 2026)
D’Innocenzio, A., & Hollister, S. (2026, January 21). Ubisoft restructures into five creative houses as it tries to reverse sliding sales. Reuters.
Link: https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/ubisoft-restructures-five-creative-houses-2026-01-21/Follow-up article (April 23, 2026):
Link: https://www.reuters.com/business/ubisoft-shares-plunge-profit-warning-black-flag-resynced-2026-04-23/ - Corroborating Trade Reporting
- VGC (Video Games Chronicle)
- Reporting on Benoit Richer’s appointment and departure
Link: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/ubisoft-veteran-benoit-richer-leaves-for-servo-games/
- Reporting on Benoit Richer’s appointment and departure
- Insider Gaming
- Staffing changes and gameplay rumors (fear system, focused design)
Link: https://insider-gaming.com/assassins-creed-hexe-fear-system-rumors/
- Staffing changes and gameplay rumors (fear system, focused design)
- TechRadar & GamesRadar
- Teaser analysis and symbolic clues
Link (GamesRadar): https://www.gamesradar.com/assassins-creed-hexe-teaser-breakdown/
Link (TechRadar): https://www.techradar.com/gaming/assassins-creed-hexe-setting-witch-hunts
- Teaser analysis and symbolic clues
- Historical Context
- Britannica – European Witch Hunts
Britannica. (2025). Witch hunts. Encyclopædia Britannica.
Link: https://www.britannica.com/topic/witch-hunt-European-history
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