Former Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia creative director Patrice Désilets is set to join THQ next summer to run a new development studio, the publisher has just announced.
In a surprising move, Désilets will shun former employer Ubisoft - where he spent more than ten years - to hire a team to develop new intellectual properties for THQ in Montreal, Quebec.
"The best way we can deliver fresh, high-quality gaming experiences is by working with the best talent," said THQ core games boss Danny Bilson of the coup.
"We expect calendar 2011 to be a watershed year for THQ, and adding developers like Patrice helps ensure our focus on new IP and great games charted by leading industry artists."
Désilets left Ubisoft earlier this year to take a "creative break from the industry".
Désilets has been the creative force behind both Assassin's Creed games and the excellent Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
A Ubisoft spokesperson said at the time: "With his role on project essentially done, Patrice Désilets has decided to take a creative break from the industry and is no longer working on Assassin's Creed Brotherhood."
The Désilets departure would've come as a blow to the Montreal studio in particular, which has also lost Splinter Cell mastermind Clint Hocking and famed producer Jade Raymond, who left to assume control of the new Ubisoft Toronto studio.
UPDATE: Désilets has published an open letter to the community, explaining that he delayed the THQ move to next summer out of "respect" to Ubisoft.
Comments
3 comments so far...
photoboy on 19 Oct '10 said:
Would his "creative break" from the industry be the length of time his Ubisoft contract stipulated he couldn't work for a direct competitor? Still, good for him. I still think he jumped ship because Ubisoft demanded an AC sequel within a year, rather than the 2 years they had between AC1 and AC2.
THQ seem to be gearing up to be the next Ubisoft/EA/Activision. They got Itagaki on board and now Desilets, and their recent success with Saint's Row 2 really shows they've come a long way. I remember when they were a joke, and used to make crappy movie tie-ins like Home Alone for the NES/SNES/Gameboy and they'd be ecstatic to scrape a review score of 50%...
Domin666 on 19 Oct '10 said:
Didnt think rats jump ship to a sinking ship,sorry THQ thinks its a player but reality is they make crap still.I avoid there games and there attitude to the monopoly they think they have by right to second hand market games.So i did it 1st traded in my only game THQ game 2009 ufc was ok but didnt like there attitude so thought to hell with them.Cash in my pocket now suckers lol.
Ellscore on 19 Oct '10 said:
This is bad news, assassins creed wont really be the same after brotherhood now. Still, hopefully thq can come up with a title I actually like now.