Former Assassin's Creed boss Marc-Alexis Côté has made clear that his shock exit from Ubisoft was not his decision.

In a post on LinkedIn, Côté said he bore "no resentment," but wanted to make clear to former colleagues and fans that he had not quit the Assassin's Creed franchise after 15 years of his own free will.

Côté's departure, announced earlier this week, came as a surprise following the successful launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, one of a list of games Côté previously helped announce as part of a big new era for the franchise.

On Tuesday this week, Ubisoft staff were told Côté was leaving via an internal email, seen by IGN, that gave little explanation for his departure. Instead, it stated that Vantage Studios, the new Tencent-backed business unit overseeing Assassin's Creed, needed a leadership team "aligned" with its core goals.

IGN previously reported that Côté was offered, but declined, another role within Vantage Studios' leadership, something Côté's new statement also mentions.

"Many of you have expressed surprise that I would choose to leave Assassin’s Creed after so many years, especially given the passion I still hold for it," Côté wrote last night. "The truth is simple: I did not make that choice.

"Ubisoft decided to transfer the leadership of the Assassin’s Creed franchise to someone closer to its new organizational structure. A different position was mentioned, but it did not carry the same scope, mandate, or continuity with the work I had been entrusted with in recent years.

"I want to be clear that I hold no resentment," Côté continued. "Ubisoft has been my home for all my professional life, and I will always be grateful for the people, the projects, and the belief that together we could create worlds that inspire millions. But I also owe it to my teams, past and present, to say this plainly: I did not walk away. I stayed at my post until Ubisoft asked me to step aside.

"As someone who grew up inspired by Star Trek (TNG!), in the later years of my career I came to see myself as the captain of the Assassin's Creed ship, someone who leaves only once every soul on board is safe. And that is exactly what I have done for as long as I could."

Côté joined Ubisoft in 2005 as a software engineer, and began working on Assassin's Creed series in time for Brotherhood. Subsequent projects saw Côté take on increasingly senior roles for Assassin's Creed 3, 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 Ubisoft sought to re-establish the series under a more singular vision, Côté stepped up to lead overall development. It was Côté who laid out plans for a string of Assassin's Creed projects (including Shadows, the upcoming witchcraft-focused Assassin's Creed Hexe and a fresh multiplayer project), and Côté who spoke out last December to defend the series and its developers amid a firestorm of discourse surrounding Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Ubisoft is expected to hire a new Assassin's Creed franchise boss in the coming months, ahead of a busy 2026 filled with further additions to Shadows, and the highly-anticipated reveal of a Black Flag remake.

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