Patrice Desilets the master mind behind Assassins Creed has filed a lawsuit against his former employer Ubisoft. After promising legal action against Ubisoft following his termination from the company last month.
Désilets is suing Ubisoft a whooping $400,000 and the rights to purchase 1666: Amsterdam which he had been developing for THQ until it went bankrupt and sold the project to his former employer at the THQ auction.
As part of an agreement with former publisher THQ, Désilets was reportedly given full creative control of the game. However, when Ubisoft purchased the project along with the studio itself earlier this year in January, but then Ubisoft decided to take away that control.
A Ubisoft representative confirmed that the company has received Désilets’ “legal request” and said that it is currently evaluating options about how to respond.
“As stated before, acquisition of THQ Montréal in January allowed Ubisoft to welcome 170 experienced developers to our existing and renowned workforce. Unfortunately, the discussions between Patrice Désilets and Ubisoft aimed at aligning Patrice’s and the studio’s visions were inconclusive,” the statement reads. “We received Patrice’s legal request and we will take the time needed to evaluate our options. We will make no further comment at this point.”
Desilets claimed last month that Ubisoft fired him without merit. In a statement sent to media, he alleged wrongdoing on the part of Ubisoft and said he planned to fight back.
“This was not my decision,” he added. “Ubisoft’s actions are baseless and without merit. I intend to fight Ubisoft vigorously for my rights, for my team and for my game.”
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed last month during a financial call that development on 1666 has been suspended.
“After more than two months of discussions with [Desilets], we couldn’t align our vision both on project development and team management,” Guillemot said. “So consequently our collaboration has ended, and we have suspended 1666 for an undisclosed period of time.”
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