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Long time Assassin’s Creed Art Director Raphael Lacoste has announced he’s leaving Ubisoft after 16 years with the company to join Haven Studios.
A thread from his Twitter account reads “It is not without emotions I have to tell you that after 8 assassins, 16 years at Ubisoft I have decided to set sails on new adventures and challenges. I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart our wonderful community and the incredible talents I’ve had the chance to collaborate with, over these amazing years. Thank you too, Ubisoft for your trust and the fantastic projects we brought to life together! Bye for now, these years will remain unforgettable.”
Just a few hours later, he would reveal his destination. Lacoste announced he was joining Haven Studios as the company’s new Art Director. “One of the best experiences of my career was creating AC1. Being more hands-on with concept art & working with many of the same core team to build a new original IP is inspiring & exciting.”
As indicated, that’s notable because Haven Studios is the new outfit set up by former Assassin’s Creed executive producer Jade Raymond earlier this year. They’re working on a new PlayStation exclusive IP, although it’s still too early for further details. However, Italian website Multiplayer.IT (translated via Video games Chronicle) has claimed the game will be an online ‘games-as-a-service’ title. Lacoste isn’t the only Assassin’s Creed veteran apparently hired for the title either, with the same reports claiming former series producer Sebastian Pule and lead writer Corey May have also been snapped up in recent weeks.
Lacoste worked on the Prince of Persia series as well as many Assassin’s Creed games during his time at Ubisoft, and became the series Franchise Art Director from 2012. He’s the latest of many high profile departures from the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla team in the last year, including the game’s narrative director Darby McDevitt back in March and director Eric Baptizat joining EA Motive last month.
Hopefully, we’ll hear more on what Haven Studios are working on soon. In the meantime, Ubisoft has announced their intention to make a live service platform for future AC games entitled Assassin’s Creed Infinity.
I'm excited to announce that I've joined @HavenStudiosInc as Art Director! One of the best experiences of my career was creating AC1. Being more hands-on with concept art & working with many of the same core team to build a new original IP is inspiring & exciting 🙏
— Raphael Lacoste (@raphaellacoste) July 22, 2021
