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Two of Ubisoft's longtime managing directors step up to manage the developer's offices in Montpellier and Toronto.

Justin Carter, Contributing Editor

June 1, 2023

2 Min Read
Splash art of various Ubisoft games such as Mario+Rabbids, Riders Republic, and Watch Dogs Legion.

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. 

About the Author(s)

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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