Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and Origins director says it's "wonderful to be back after all these years" as he returns to "lead the creative direction of the franchise"

Four months after allegedly forcing out former Assassin's Creed boss Marc-Alexis Côté, Ubisoft has announced the leadership team that'll head the franchise going forward. The three people named here all have extensive histories with Assassin's Creed, but perhaps the most notable is Jean Guesdon, the new head of content, who's returning to the series after having served as creative director on two of its most beloved entries.

Guesdon has been named head of content for the Assassin's Creed brand, which, as Ubisoft explained in its announcement, means that he'll "lead its overall creative direction, support individual games, and guide the future of Assassin's Creed while staying true to its core DNA."

Guesdon's credits on the series go back to his time as a production coordinator on the original Assassin's Creed, and he was previously head of content from Brotherhood through Assassin's Creed 3 – arguably the series' heyday. He was also the creative director on Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and Assassin's Creed Origins, two widely beloved entries in the franchise. He briefly parted ways with Ubisoft in 2023 after nearly 5 years as creative director on an undisclosed project, but returned a year later in a contract role as a strategic director at the company. Clearly, his role is about to expand substantially.

"It is wonderful to be back after all these years," Guesdon said in a statement to fans shared on Reddit. "Assassin's Creed has been a defining part of my professional life and being back feels like coming home. This universe, these characters, these worlds, and of course the community have always meant so much to me. I’m especially grateful to be sharing this journey with all of you again, and look forward to sharing more about the next steps ahead for the franchise."

The overall head of Assassin's Creed will be Martin Shelling, who's "responsible for overall strategy and long-term vision of the brand." Shelling served in various production roles on the series going back to Assassin's Creed: Revelations in 2011, and eventually moving up through the executive ranks of the production hierarchy.

The third part of the new leadership team is François de Billy, who'll be head of production excellence for the series. What does that mean? "He will strengthen production practices and execution across the brand," Ubisoft said, though I'm still not clear on what that means beyond 'make game good.' He also has a long history with Assassin's Creed, having served as a production manager on the original game, and has been a producer or production director on almost every entry since.

All three will take on their roles at Vantage Studios, the new Tencent-backed Ubisoft subsidiary that's heading up Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six for the publisher.

Here are our rankings of the best Assassin's Creed games.