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Ubisoft returns 1666: Amsterdam rights to Assassin's Creed creator

Brenna Hillier avatar
News by Brenna Hillier Contributor
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Assassin's Creed creator Patrice Désilets can forge ahead with the IP he lost in THQ's dissolution.

1666_rembrandt_self_portrait

Ubisoft returns 1666: Amsterdam rights to Assassin's Creed creator

The game once described as "the new Assassin's Creed" is back in action.

As part of a settlement, Désilets has agreed to drop a $400,000 lawsuit against Ubisoft in return for the restoration of his "all creative and business control" over 1666: Amsterdam.

In a statement, Ubisoft Montreal and Toronto CEO Yannis Mallat said that he and Désilets have had their differences but "are above all interested in the creation of video games and the evolution of this medium of entertainment".

"This agreement is good news for everyone. As we have always said, Patrice is a talented designer and we wish him all the best in the development of his future endeavors," he added.

I hope you weren't holding you breath for 1666, though; Désilets said the end of the years-long law suit means he can 'devote himself entirely' to Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, which as far as we know is an entirely separate project.

First revealed via trademark application in 2012, 1666: Amsterdam has never been formally announced or detailed, although we know it had something to do with Rembrandt. It was the product of the short-lived THQ Montreal studio, which was purchased by Ubisoft when THQ collapsed.

Despite some unpleasantness surrounding his departure and alleged poaching of Ubisoft staff, both Désilets and Ubisoft seemed pleased to be reunited - and yet the creative claimed to have been fired just four months later. Ubisoft axed 1666 almost immediately, and Désilets promptly sued.

Better than the soaps, ain't it?

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