14 DAY TRIAL // Clint Hocking, best known as the man behind Far Cry 2, has announced that he is leaving the post of creative director at the Montreal development studio of publisher Ubisoft. During his time with the company, he managed to launch three big titles, Splinter Cell, the Chaos Theory sequel and Far Cry 2, with combined overall sales of more than 12 million copies to their name. He worked in Montreal for nine years.
A post on the developer's personal blog says, “In the 451 weeks that I have been here, I have adopted many new habits. It has taken tremendous effort to prevent those habits from atrophying into bad ones. Pride burns into hubris. Willingness wilts into desperation. Confidence slows to stubbornness. Passion boils into anger.” Basically, the game creator believes that only by seeking a new challenge can he keep his skills sharp. Hocking states that he already knows how he will proceed after leaving the Montreal development team.
It's not clear what Clint Hocking plans to do in the future, whether he will be taking a break from designing videogames or whether he plans to join another developer and quickly announce a new project.
Whatever he does, there are gamers eager to hear and see more from the main creative mind behind Far Cry 2, the open world first person shooter launched at the end of 2008.
The narrative centered on hunting down a notorious weapon dealer known as The Jackal. He might not be the strongest seen in videogames but the gameplay is complex and varied, allowing players to choose from a huge array of weapons and vehicles as they try to reach their objectives via stealth, deception or huge firefights. The so-called “buddy system,” which allowed a computer controlled character to help out the gamer in certain situations, is also an innovation that would be welcomed in other titles.