It hasn’t been an easy year for Ubisoft executives who have had to contend with allegations of abuse and misconduct, and in the last few hours a new piece has been added to the turbulent state of work for the French giant.
Ubisoft Massive CEO, David Polfeldthas in fact decided to step down from his position, although he is expected to return to Ubisoft in 2022 with a new role.
Polfeldt, who over the years has worked on titles such as The Division and the recently announced Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, as well as mysterious project related to Star Wars which has not yet shown itself, will leave Massive Entertainment on July 1.
Ubisoft informed employees of Polfeldt’s departure via an internal note. In it, the company explained who Polfeldt is “Ready for a new challenge” and that after a six-month sabbatical he will return to Ubisoft in a new one “Strategic role”. Massive’s replacement for Polfeldt has already been chosen, but the company has not yet announced the name.
Ubisoft confirmed the news in a statement to Kotaku.
After more than 12 years leading Ubisoft Massive to massive success, David Polfeldt takes a short sabbatical before returning to Ubisoft in a new role. We have already named David’s successor and are looking forward to sharing more details at a later date.
Although Massive Entertainment has been at the center of some serious allegations, such as those directed at consumer experience director Antoine Emond who allegedly sexually assaulted an intern, Polfeldt has never been involved in such cases.
Despite this, the now ex-CEO of Massive has decided to leave the company, and this is certainly not the only “heavy” farewell for Ubisoft in recent times. Last year we saw the farewell of Serge Hascoet (chief creative officer), Yannis Mallat (head of Canadian studies), Cecile Cornet (global head of human resources), Ashraf Ismail (director of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla), for not forget Michel Ancel, creator of Rayman and working on Beyond Good & Evil 2 for Ubisoft Montpellier, who decided last September to leave the entire industry.
Last month, Charlie Guillemot, co-head of the Ubisoft Owlient mobile studio and son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, left the company..
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