Jade Raymond leaves Ubisoft after a decade

Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond has left Ubisoft after over a decade of service.

Raymond is best known for being the producer on Assassin's Creed and its sequel, but she also produced Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Watch Dogs in addition to starting up Ubisoft's Toronto studio where she operated as its managing director.

Alexandre Parizeau, another Ubisoft Toronto team member who's been there since the studio launched in 2009, will replace her as managing director come 29th October.

"I've spent 10 extraordinary years at Ubisoft, and I am proud to have been part of many of the best teams in the industry making truly remarkable games," said Raymond in a statement about her departure. "This is one of the hardest decisions of my career, but the Toronto studio is strong and on a solid path. I'm confident that now is a good time for me to transition leadership of the studio to Alex and to pursue my other ambitions and new opportunities. Stay tuned for more on what's next for me, but for now, I'd like to thank Ubisoft for its partnership through the years, and I wish them the very best in all their next endeavours."

Parizeau has had over 15 years experience in the industry and operated as the senior producer on Splinter Cell: Blacklist and a producer on Splinter Cell: Conviction and Rainbow Six: Vegas.

"On behalf of Ubisoft, I'd like to thank Jade for her leadership and many contributions over the years, and wish her all the best in her next adventures," said Ubisoft Montreal and Toronto CEO Yannis Mallat. "The Toronto studio is a key part of the Ubisoft global network, and Alex has been at the heart of the studio's growth over the years. He was the obvious choice to lead this talented group of people as they continue to develop amazing games."

Raymond is the latest of Ubisoft elite to branch off from the studio parodied in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag in order to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Earlier this year Rayman creator Michel Ancel started up his own studio separate from Ubisoft called Wild Sheep. He's making a game there called Wild where you can play all manner of animals. Wild!

For more on Jade Raymond, Eurogamer contributor Simon Parker interviewed her a couple of years back about the future of games. "If we are not moving things forward then why are we working here?" she said at the time. 'If you're going to create something then you have to go above and beyond what's gone before. It's the only way." It'll certainly be interesting to see what she gets up to next.