While the company has had its fair share of problems and clashes with the various gaming communities its franchises have fostered, Ubisoft has historically offered a unique array of IPs that attracted gamers from across the globe. Regardless, some veteran game developers have their sights set higher still, and Patrick Plourde is a prime example of this being the case.A tenured Ubisoft creative director, Patrick Plourde has made a name for himself by working on a number of beloved titles, such as Rainbow Six: Vegas, Far Cry 3, Child of Light, Watch Dogs 2, and a number of others. According to Plourde's tweets, he is now ready to move on from Ubisoft, however, and may be looking to work on non-gaming projects as well.Plourde is starting his own independent creative consultancy firm that will, he explained, continue to collaborate with Ubisoft in some ways while allowing him to spend time on some personal projects. Plourde also said that he would now have the opportunity to "dabble with other fields outside gaming," though he didn't clarify this statement in any significant detail. Curiously, Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment lost its studio manager last month as well, suggesting a higher turnover rate for veteran developers than is usual at the company.
Though Plourde didn't comment on the matter in any way, shape, or form, it may be worth pointing out that Ubisoft is dealing with some internal strife at this point. Namely, Ubisoft failed to respond to an open letter signed by over 1,000 former and current staff who feared "judgment or reprobation from peers or managers." There were allegations of widespread sexual misconduct as well, and the company is yet to make an official statement on any of these issues.
Ubisoft defended NFTs recently, however, claiming that players simply don't understand the value that this technology could bring to the gaming industry. These statements were made just weeks before the company's first major foray into NFT gaming, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, failed completely. Even though there was plenty of backlash in regard to Ubisoft's newfound obsession with NFTs, the company reiterated its interest in the technology.
Regardless, with leaks claiming that Ubisoft has over 20 games to announce in 2022, it's likely that not all of them will be NFT platforms after all. Odds are that Plourde himself will have some say in the development of some of these games, though it remains to be seen what the extent of his collaboration with Ubisoft ends up being in the future.