Just over five years ago I left Ubisoft in Montreal and set out in search of new challenges and to find my own fortune making awesomer games. I have been very fortunate over this time to live and work in both San Francisco and Seattle; two very different and unique game development hubs that have consistently produced many of the best games in the world. I met a lot of new people, and I worked at a range of different companies on a few different projects, each with their own unique cultures and approaches. I have done some interesting and challenging work and I have learned a lot.
But, as the five year mark approached, and I realized I had not shipped a game in seven years, I started to become anxious and depressed. I am not a patient person, by nature. I was on my third visa, and had still not managed to secure a greencard. It turns out that being an ex-pat is not as glamourous as Hemingway would have you believe - and I was definitely following his prescribed dosage of mojitos - so that was not the issue.
In the end, for me at least, five years is just too long to be rootless. As a result, I decided at the beginning of the summer to return to Canada. At first I was not sure where I would land - whether I would return to Montreal and the development community I came of age within, or whether I would continue my adventure elsewhere in Canada.
After a number of discussions, the opportunity I was most excited about was to return to Ubisoft - but this time in Toronto. I know most of the people who were involved in founding the studio personally, and almost all of them are still here. I've watched them grow from afar, and managed to keep up with their war stories at various industry events over the years (usually over mojitos). It wasn't hard for them to convince me to come and talk about what we could do together.
From the moment I set foot in the door here, it was like a reunion. I couldn't walk ten meters without seeing a familiar face, if not a close friend. But it was more than just familiar faces. It almost felt genetic. Interviewing with people I had never even met and getting drawn into discussions about process and design... it made me realize how much my own design and development thinking had been shaped by the culture here, and perhaps - just maybe - how even some tiny fragment of my own thinking had managed to work its way into Ubisoft's approach as well.
So it's weird to say it - given that I am living in a different city, and working in a different studio, with mostly different people who I have never worked with before, but... it's good to be back.
There's a short interview up on the Ubisoft Blog here.
More news soon.
Congrats! Sounds like a great feeling. Looking forward to what you guys come up with. I know they were hiring for a new IP but I really hope you get to make the follow up to Far Cry 2 one day.
Posted by: Bolivar687 | August 27, 2015 at 12:22 PM
Congratulations, man. I can't wait to see what you ship.
Posted by: Chris Remo | August 27, 2015 at 01:23 PM
Congratulations Clint!
Frankly when the news broke about you leaving Amazong I suspected we would see this announcement soon :)
I was missing your games, Splinter Cell and Chaos Theory and FarCry 2 are very dear to me..so finally I can hopefully look forward to something new from you. Fingers crossed that it is something singleplayer, building on the immersive sim-like design of your previous brilliant games.
I would still love to know what you worked on at Valve though. Something with Doug Church, perhaps..
Posted by: Paul | August 27, 2015 at 01:32 PM
Good luck Clint, been following you a while, love all the SC games from day 1.
PS: can you put the bug in Alex's ear about eliminating Uplay on PC? :)
Posted by: bikergofast | August 27, 2015 at 04:41 PM
Far cry 2 was one of the most thought provoking games i had ever played. The clowns who hated it simply hadnt evolved higher brain functions.
And oh yeah, amazon sucks. The walmart of the internet age, and thats not a compliment.
Posted by: HandsomeMan | August 27, 2015 at 05:03 PM
Welcome back Clint! Sucks that we just missed each other... would have loved to work with you again. Can't wait to see what you come up with!
Posted by: James Clement | August 27, 2015 at 06:25 PM
Good Luck Bud! Can't wait to see what you're up to there!
Posted by: Jesse Houston | August 27, 2015 at 06:43 PM
Congrats and good luck, it's great to see you back in Ubisoft !
Excited to see your next project.
Posted by: LKBD | August 27, 2015 at 10:10 PM
Chaos Theory is great but Far Cry 2 is probably my favourite game. I thought it was the future of gaming back when it launched; immersive, emergent gameplay, player freedom (and responsibility), a mature story which promoted self-reflection. I replay it every year or two because there's still nothing else quite like it.
Looking forward to what you come up with. Best wishes.
Posted by: Chris Werney | August 28, 2015 at 12:06 PM
Welcome back Clint! Going to keep a watch on this blog to hear more! Clever website name by the way (an anagram of your name!) Many other posters on here keep talking about Far Cry 2 I think I'm going to have to try it out now.
Posted by: Thomas Phifer | October 29, 2015 at 04:49 PM