Assassin's Creed Producer Jade Raymond To Lead Ubisoft Toronto

Jade Raymond, the highly-visible producer of Ubisoft's multi-million selling Assassin's Creed, is heading up the publisher's recently-announced Ubisoft Toronto studio, the company said Monday. Ubisoft said it would be founding a Toronto-based studio in a major announcement in July. The government of Ontario is investing CAD$263 million ($226 million) into the development studio over the next 10 years. Raymond will lead day-to-day operations at Ubisoft Toronto, and will report to Yannis Mallat, CEO of both Ubisoft Montreal and Toronto. Raymond had been with Ubisoft Montreal since 2004, where she had been a producer on Assassin's Creed. The third-person action game released to much anticipation in 2007, and has sold 8 million copies to date, according to Ubisoft. She is currently executive producer on Assassin's Creed II and other projects, Ubisoft said. Raymond has also worked at Electronic Arts, IBM, and Sony Online. Mallat said in a press statement, "I’m excited to have Jade managing our Toronto studio. With more than 12 years of experience in the video game industry, Jade’s knowledge and leadership as an industry veteran are major assets in building the Toronto studio and expanding Ubisoft’s presence in Canada." In July, Ubisoft said the Toronto studio in particular will help bridges video games with other media, "including books, comics, short films, and other products."