Patrice Desilets sues Ubisoft for $400K over termination

After being fired from Ubisoft last month, Assassin's Creed designer Patrice Desilets has now filed a lawsuit against his former company, suing the publisher for around $400,000. The District of Montreal court filing, as obtained by Game Informer, details the alleged break down between Desilets and Ubisoft, in which Ubisoft claimed that it was able to go ahead with the in-development 1666 with or without Desilets. Ubisoft acquired 1666 as part of its THQ Montreal purchase earlier this year. However, the filing states that Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat told Desilets that THQ had given him too much creative freedom on the title, and that Ubisoft would have a problem continuing down this path. THQ's Danny Bilson had given Desilets this much freedom on the project out of desperation, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is alleged to have said. Talks rapidly broke down after this point, and Desilets was eventually fired in May. Now he is looking for damages, as well as the rights to the 1666 IP if Ubisoft chooses to terminate the project. Ubisoft responded to the filing, telling Polygon, "As stated before, the acquisition of THQ Montreal in January allowed Ubisoft to welcome 170 experienced developers to our existing and renowned workforce." "Unfortunately, the discussions between Patrice Desilets and Ubisoft aimed at aligning Patrice's and the studio's visions were inconclusive. We received Patrice's legal request and will address it in court. We will make no further comment at this point."