Ubisoft Massive arguably just had one of its biggest E3's ever. Not only did the studio get to unveil its in-development project Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, but the industry was also abuzz with Ubisoft Massive's absent Star Wars game. The team has two extremely high-profile games in the works, never mind continued support for The Division 2. Which makes it all the more surprising to hear that Ubisoft Massive managing director David Polfeldt has left the team -- though he plans on remaining with Ubisoft.
Polfeldt has been with Massive for an impressive sixteen years, meaning he's been with Massive even since the studio made its World in Conflict RTS with publisher Vivendi. Polfeldt has been involved with all of Massive for all of its growth since the Ubisoft acquisition in 2008. That includes the studio's early work supporting Ubisoft Montreal on Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Far Cry 3 through its two breakthrough titles, The Division and The Division 2.
It's perhaps understandable then why Polfeldt is moving on. Ubisoft Massive is now one of the company's biggest and most important teams. It's working on two of Ubisoft's highest-profile projects, licensed games from the Avatar and Star Wars franchises. Suffice to say, if Polfeldt is looking for bigger challenges, then finding another position within Ubisoft's hierarchy makes a certain amount of sense.
Starting on July 1, Polfeldt is going to be taking a sabbatical. The break will last for six months, after which he'll return to the company in a new "strategic role." Exactly what this role is hasn't been made clear, which confuses the issue, somewhat. It's possible that Polfeldt is receiving a promotion, but it's also possible that Polfeldt is being shifted out of any authoritative role in the company. One thing is clear: the lack of clarity is going to lead to a lot of speculation given Ubisoft's recent controversies.
Ubisoft does say that it already has an agreement with a new employee to take on Polfeldt's role at Ubisoft Massive. However, Ubisoft can't name names because the new hire works externally and can't legally make the announcement until they've departed.
To be clear, while Polfeldt's departure from Ubisoft Massive is certain to stir discussion regarding Ubisoft's recent controversies and leadership turmoil, Polfeldt hasn't been otherwise connected to those events. The situation is nevertheless odd, with the legal subtleties of the process only further clouding the matter. But with both an Avatar game and a Star Wars game in development, Ubisoft clearly believes this is the right decision to make for Ubisoft Massive right now.
Source: Axios