Ubisoft loses another Assassin's Creed creative director

Ubisoft Montreal's has lost another creative director for its Assassin's Creed franchise, Alexandre Amancio, who resigned from the company to work at advertising agency Cossette. Amancio's departure comes just a year and a half after his predecessor Patrice Desilets left Ubisoft, joining THQ Montreal shortly afterward -- a move that prompted Ubisoft to obtain an injunction blocking THQ from poaching its Canadian talent, which was later dismissed by the local court. The Assassin's Creed franchise is a vital one for Ubisoft, selling over 31 million copies since its debut in 2007. The company has already said that a new entry for the series will release later this year, though it's currently unclear who will take over the creative director role. During his six years at Ubisoft, Amancio worked on the recently released Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and was also the art director for 2008's Far Cry 2. Prior to that, he worked at companies like Autodesk, Microids, CAE Electronics, and ATS Aerospace. Amancio will now serve as chief creative officer at Cossette. The ad agency embraced his background and described the gaming sector as "a very progressive industry" it could learn from. It said Amancio's unique expertise will help the firm "explore new creative ways of doing things." "Video games and advertising have many common elements," said Amancio in an announcement post published at Cossette's site (as translated by Google Translate). "In both industries, we are always looking for new ways to engage the consumer to the brand." "Like advertising, the video game industry must now take into account and supply a very important social dimension in its development and strategies. The game is no longer just a game, it's a community [with] relations between players and the brand."