Ubisoft Canned Ambitious RPG Project By Former Dragon Age Creative Director

Ubisoft Canned Ambitious RPG Project By Former Dragon Age Creative Director

In December of 2018, former Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw ’s Jason Schreier, the cause of Laidlaw’s departure was the cancelation of a project code-named Avalon, an ambitious adventure based on Arthurian legend, by former Ubisoft chief creative officer Serge Hascoët.

According to the Bloomberg report, which cites anonymous former and current Ubisoft employees familiar with the project, Avalon was a “big-budget adventure” revolving around the many heroic tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Unlike Ubisoft games like Assassin’s Creed, rooted in actual history, Avalon would have been set in a world of swords and sorcery, myths and legends. The game would have a cooperative online element to it, similar to Capcom’s Monster Hunter series.

While it sounds like the perfect setting for an Ubisoft-style open-world adventure, the report indicates then Ubisoft chief creative officer Serge Hascoët did not agree. Not a fan of the fantasy genre, Hascoët reportedly set a very high bar for the project, telling the team working on Avalon that it needed to be “better than Tolkien.”

Serge Hascoët resigned from Ubisoft in July of this year following weeks of sexual misconduct allegations. The role of chief creative officer is currently being filled by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. Hascoët’s departure came immediately after widespread reports of misconduct at the Toronto-based studio which also resulted in the resignation of Ubisoft head of Canadian studios Yannis Mallat, and the company’s global head of human resources Cécile Cornet.

Unable to meet Hascoët’s high standards, Laidlaw and his team pitched new settings for the game, including a science fiction theme and one based on Greek mythology, only to be repeatedly shot down. By the fall of 2019, the project was cancelled. Mike Laidlaw left Ubisoft in January of 2020.

According to Bloomberg’s report, developers working on the project were surprised to see the Avalon project so hindered simply because one man did not like its setting. That’s a lot of power for one person to wield, even at as massive a game publisher as Ubisoft. Hopefully Ubisoft’s ongoing restructuring will give original projects like Avalon more of a fighting chance in the future.

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[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/07/pressed-on-accountability-ubisoft-ceo-avoids-taking-blame-for-companys-sexual-misconduct-problems/” thumb=”https://www.gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/07/23/ms3fvjwzcxyktpl86lss-300×200.jpg” title=”Pressed On Accountability, Ubisoft CEO Avoids Taking Blame For Company’s Sexual Misconduct Problems” excerpt=”In a call with investors today, a financial analyst asked Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot about what he knew about the sexual misconduct that now appears to have been widespread at the multinational publisher.”]

[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/07/top-ubisoft-executives-out-amid-allegations-of-company-wide-misconduct/” thumb=”https://www.gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/07/12/sqdlagk31apbq2ngyiom-300×169.jpg” title=”Top Ubisoft Executives Out Amid Allegations Of Company-Wide Misconduct” excerpt=”Serge Hascoët has resigned as Ubisoft’s chief creative officer after weeks of damning accounts of sexual misconduct throughout the company’s various studios. Yannis Mallat, the powerful head of Ubisoft’s Canadian studios, is also out effective immediately, as is the company’s global head of human resources Cécile Cornet.”]

[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/07/ubisoft-employees-have-grave-concerns-over-toronto-studios-misconduct-allegations/” thumb=”https://www.gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/07/07/xotwwykqbw47ghq8hlsh-300×168.png” title=”Ubisoft Employees Have ‘Grave Concerns’ Over Toronto Studio’s Misconduct Allegations” excerpt=”There’s a story some people tell at Ubisoft Toronto, the studio currently finishing one of this fall’s bigger planned releases, Watch Dogs: Legion. It goes something like this: Maxime Béland, one of its co-founders and, until last week, a 20-year veteran of Ubisoft, allegedly choked a female employee at a…”]


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