Far Cry 3 creative director leaves Ubisoft after almost two decades at the company

Long standing senior developer at Ubisoft Patrick Plourde has left the company after almost 20 years.

Plourde announced earlier this week (April 13) that he would be leaving Ubisoft after working at the studio for almost two decades, and has set up an independent creative consultancy. In a tweet on his personal Twitter account, Plourde referenced the various games he's worked on such as Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas, Assassin's Creed, Far Cry 3, Watch Dogs 2, and Child of Light, saying "it's been a privilege to collaborate with everyone at Ubi on these great games! Now, I'm happy to share that I'm starting my own independent creative consultancy, where I will keep working with Ubisoft and also spend time on some personal projects.

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The now ex-Ubisoft developer also provided a statement to Axios (via VGC) saying that he will "have a position outside a traditional structure (with mandate cross department)," and that he "will be able to dabble with other fields outside gaming" without the need to ask for Ubisoft's permission.

Plourde has performed a variety of roles in his time at the company. He was a game designer on the original Assassin's Creed, and later served as director on Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. And he also acted as creative director on 2014's indie platformer role-playing game Child of Light, as well as Far Cry 3.

Ubisoft has struggled to retain a great number of its employees in recent years, as noted in a report from Axios late last year covering what was internally known as "The Great Exodus." Around five of the top 25 people that worked on Far Cry 6 reportedly left the company, as well as 12 of the top 50 from Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Interviews reported that low pay, competitive positions elsewhere, creative frustration, and how HQ handled claims of workplace sexism and harassment influenced employees' decision to leave.