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Mike Laidlaw announced that he has left his position as creative director for Ubisoft Quebec (via Fextralife).
Prior to working for Ubisoft, Laidlaw spent fourteen years at BioWare, and is credited on titles like Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. He was the lead designer for Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, the director of Dragon Age: Inquisition, and the creative director of the property as a whole. In 2018, Laidlaw joined Ubisoft Quebec to help out on a “not-yet-announced project,” which was revealed to be Gods & Monsters.
Quick update from me!
Today (Jan 31st) is my last day with Ubisoft. Huge thanks to the talented and welcoming folks at Ubisoft Quebec City for my time there.
Now to take stock and figure out what’s next!
— Mike Laidlaw (@Mike_Laidlaw) January 31, 2020
He broke the news in a tweet, expressing his appreciation for the “talented and welcoming folks” at the studio. The industry veteran seems to be in limbo for the time being, saying that he will “take stock and figure out what’s next” for his career. Recently, Ubisoft has experienced some shifts regarding its structure and its games. The sluggish sales of The Division 2 and Ghost Recon Breakpoint led to the delays of three of Ubisoft’s most-anticipated titles, Gods & Monsters, Watch Dogs: Legion, and Rainbow Six Quarantine. But, a report alleges that the “very disappointing” reaction towards the two games triggered another turn for the company. In order to avoid repetitiveness in its future games, the editorial team will be shaken up to give one franchise to one of the seven vice-presidents, and encourage an individual vision for each franchise.
“While many of our titles are strongly differentiated, we need to ensure this is the case for all of them,” said CEO Yves Guillemot at the time. “We are already acting on these learnings and tackling these issues head on. We are implementing today the first change at the group level to improve execution. We have [inaudible] our processes already a few times in the past with remarkable effect and we will focus our energy to ensure we deliver again.” Ubisoft has not officially announced the editorial shifts, though this quote does seem to support the claim. We’ll keep you in the loop.
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