TheAssassin’s Creedfranchise has seen its fair share of directors since the series made its debut on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2007. Its roster includes names like Patrice Desilets,Jade Raymond, Ashraf Ismael, and many more who went on to foster new games and studios or still sheparding the series as it enters its 15th year. Among those names isAssassin’s Creed Valhallanarrative director Darby McDevitt who, after leaving Ubisoft in March 2021, will be rejoining the studio to continue his work on the series.
Before joining Ubisoft, McDevitt served as a writer at Electronic Arts and worked on a variety of games includingThe SimsandThe Lord of the Rings. McDevitt’s first foray into theAssassin’s Creedseries was as the lead writer for 2009’sAssassin’s Creed Bloodlines, a PlayStation Portable game and direct sequel to the original 2007 game. His primary focus at Ubisoft would continue to beAssassin’s Creed, serving as the lead writer forAssassin’s Creed 2: Discovery,Assassin’s Creed Revelations, andAssassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag.
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As mentioned above, McDevitt announced his departure from Ubisoft after spending over a decade with the studio to “explore new ideas” outside of the publisher following the release ofAssassin’s Creed Valhalla. However, he took to Twitter to say he will be returning to Ubisoft after taking the past year to contemplate his future and confirmed he will still be working on theAssassin’s Creedseries. He voiced his excitement about being able to continue working on the franchise and told his followers to “stay tuned.”
While McDevitt’s decision to return may come as a surprise to some, both decisions can be seen as understandable for the longtime writer. On the one hand, it can be argued working on a franchise as big asAssassin’s Creedfor nearly as long as McDevitt had can produce a desire to move on. The aforementioned Jade Raymond is an example of this as she departed Ubisoft after nearly a decade where she helped foster bothAssassin’s CreedandWatch Dogs. She has since taken on the challenge of building two new studios, the first being Motive Studios for Electronic Arts and, more recently, the independent developerHaven Entertainment.
That said, there is a degree of relief in the security staying on with a studio likeUbisoftand a franchise as big asAssassin’s Creedcan provide. It is possible the months away from Ubisoft was all the time he needed to avoid burnout, which is understandble given his time on the franchise.
Assassin’s Creed Valhallais currently available on Amazon Luna, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
