Former Assassin's Creed head clarifies that he was asked to “step aside” by Ubisoft and did not “walk away”

Former Assassin's Creed franchise boss Marc-Alexis Côté has clarified the reasoning for his departure from Ubisoft, stating he "did not walk away" but was instead asked to "step aside" by the company following an organizational restructuring.

The details:

• Côté, who spent nearly two decades at Ubisoft and oversaw the Assassin's Creed series after serving as a designer, producer, and director on several titles, left the company on Tuesday. This comes shortly after the formation of Vantage Studios, a new Tencent-backed subsidiary that now houses Ubisoft’s biggest studios with a focus on Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.
• In a LinkedIn post published on Wednesday, Côté revealed that while he was offered a different position at Vantage Studios, "it did not carry the same scope, mandate, or continuity with the work [he] had been entrusted with in recent years." He emphasized that Ubisoft decided to transfer the leadership of the Assassin's Creed franchise "to someone closer to its new organizational structure," and that he didn't "walk away" from his position, instead leaving the company when asked to "step aside."
• Despite the situation, Côté stressed that he holds "no resentment" towards the publisher, expressing gratitude for his time at the company. “I want to be clear that I hold no resentment,” he wrote. “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.”
• The internal email sent by Vantage Studios co-CEOs Charlie Guillemot and Christophe Derennes that originally announced Côté’s departure claimed that he had been "offered several opportunities to be part of the leadership team" but "respectfully declined and decided to look to start his next chapter elsewhere.” The pair said that they were “disappointed” by Côté’s decision to leave but wished the company veteran well.