14 DAY TRIAL // After delaying all its upcoming titles indefinitely, Ubisoft made important changes to its central editorial team in an attempt to imprint more distinct identities to its top-tier franchises like Assassin's Creed and Tom Clancy.
The changes follow lackluster sales of two Tom Clancy games that CEO Yves Guillemot blamed on a lack of differentiation in consumers' minds, something that we've been saying for years. Anyway, it appears that the editorial team shakeup reported last month had some negative repercussions on new employees as well.
Mike Laidlaw, the Dragon Age designer who joined Ubisoft Quebec in 2018, announced he is leaving the studio after a little bit more than a year as creative director. Laidlaw tweeted about his departure on the last day of January:
“Quick update from me! Today 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!”
It's unclear on what project Laidlaw has been working on at Ubisoft, but when he joined the French studio, he said he would be part of a “not-yet-announced” project. Then, less than a year later, it was revealed that the open-world RPG Gods & Monsters would be developed by Ubisoft Quebec, so this must have been the only project in which Laidlaw was involved.
Although he doesn't seem to know where his next adventure will take him, these guys always find a good place to land. We just hope they'll be allowed to impose their creative style wherever they go since they are veterans of the gaming industry with amazing portfolios under the belt.
Mike Laidlaw joined Ubisoft Quebec back in December 2018 after leaving Bioware one year earlier. He worked for 14 years at BioWare and he's mostly known for his work on Dragon Age. He was also involved in other BioWare titles like Mass Effect series and Jade Empire.