Ubisoft just announced a shake-up for two of its subsidiary studios. New managing directors have been appointed for its offices in Toronto and Montpellier.
Istvan Tajnay will head up Ubisoft Montpellier starting in September. He previously served as managing director for Ubisoft Berlin (which he co-founded in 2018), and later migrated to Ubisoft Toronto to work on Far Cry 6 and the upcoming remake of Splinter Cell.
Montpellier, it should be noted, was under investigation in late February for allegations of burnout and high employee turnover. During that investigation, managing director Guillaume Carmona departed. The studio is currently leading development on Beyond Good & Evil 2.
Fellow Ubisoft veteran Darryl Long will lead Toronto. He previously held leadership roles at Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Winnipeg (the latter of which he co-founded), and worked as a producer on Far Cry titles such as Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 5.
Interestingly, it’s said that Long will first continue overseeing development of Skull & Bones over at Ubisoft Singapore. The online pirate game has been long in production, and had numerous development controversies. Once Skull ships, he’ll join Ubisoft Toronto to direct the Splinter Cell remake.
Ubisoft is trying to get its development affairs properly in order
In the announcement post, a spokesperson for Ubisoft said Tajnay and Long were “experts in video game production, each with over 20 years of experience. […] I am convinced that both Istvan and Darryl’s expertise and human-centric leadership will be an asset to Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Toronto.”
The developer has had a rough 2023 thus far, and towards the end of May, revealed its remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time had been quietly rebooted. Thus far, its biggest release of 2023 is (and may only be) Assassin’s Creed Mirage in October.
Several of its games have had their share of troubles, such as Beyond Good & Evil 2. The sequel to the cult classic has had its share of development hurdles since its initial reveal in 2017. Even the Splinter Cell remake has had its troubles, as its director David Grivel left Ubisoft late last year.
Future titles such as Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Skull & Bones are expected to release during the 2023-2024 fiscal year.