Today, Ubisoft has announced that Ubisoft Toronto managing director Alexandre Parizeau will be stepping down from his role. Replacing Parizeau is Ubisoft Berlin’s former studio manager Istvan Tajnay.
Parizeau has worked at Ubisoft Toronto for the better part of a decade. His time with the studio began in 2010 when he served as a senior producer throughout the development of Splinter Cell Blacklist. In 2014, Parizeau was promoted to managing director. Over the next six years, he oversaw the development of such games as Starlink Battle For Atlas, as well as Ubisoft Toronto’s co-development efforts on franchises like Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed. Most recently, in October 2020, Ubisoft Toronto launched the third entry in the Watch Dogs franchise, Watch Dogs: Legion.
Parizeau has decided to leave the studio to focus on personal priorities. “Leaving Ubisoft… is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make,” Parizeau said in a statement. “In my time here, Ubisoft Toronto has become one of the largest development studios within Ubisoft. That is a testament to the ambition, commitment and focus of the team, and I am grateful and proud to have supported them as managing director these past six years. As the studio continues to evolve and reinvent itself for the future, I believe now is the right time for me to pass the torch, and I’m confident Istvan will do an excellent job leading the studio forward to achieve big success in years to come.”
Istvan Tajnay held the role of Ubisoft Berlin’s Studio Manager since the development house was first opened in 2018. Since then, the studio has played a supporting role in the development of the Far Cry franchise. Transitioning over to Ubisoft Toronto, Tajnay will lead the studio’s 900 employees as they ready themselves for the release of Watch Dogs: Legion Online.
Later in 2021, Ubisoft Toronto’s Far Cry 6 will launch, and is said to be one of the most ambitious takes the series has received. The studio is also working on a “number of new projects” while “undergoing a transformation of the processes, tools and technologies teams use to collaborate and innovate.”