Hocking blows the lid off ubisoft’s development chaos
Clint Hocking, the veteran designer behind Splinter Cell and Watch Dogs: Legion, has delivered a brutally candid account of his time leading massive development teams at Ubisoft, painting a picture of a chaotic, frustrating process he likened to ‘flaming barrels falling down from a construction site.’
A culture of constant firefighting
Speaking on the FRVR podcast, Hocking described the sheer scale of managing 1,000-person teams as a relentless, overwhelming experience. He used the classic Donkey Kong arcade analogy – a dizzying cascade of collapsing obstacles – to illustrate the feeling of constantly reacting to immediate crises, a stark contrast to his earlier days where he could directly engage with individual team members and offer granular feedback.
From direct input to jira notes
“On Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, I would just walk over to the desk of the person who was making a thing, and sit down with them and talk to them about what they’re doing,” Hocking recalled. “We could have a conversation.” This hands-on approach allowed him to sculpt specific elements, like the placement of light sources to enhance player navigation. However, that’s where the difference dramatically shifted. With Watch Dogs: Legion, he explains, “There’s 30 people in the meeting… Directors and producers and project managers, and very often even the level designer who built it isn’t even in the meeting.”
The bureaucracy of scale
The result? A system where meticulous notes are taken, tasks are assigned via Jira, and the original creator’s input is effectively filtered through layers of management. Hocking laments, “It’s like, ‘where’s the person who worked on this?’ ‘Ah, they’re working on the thing they need to do for their next meeting. But don’t worry we’ll take notes and put it in Jira for them.’” He describes a situation where six weeks later, the context of the work had shifted, rendering the initial conversations and suggestions moot. “It very often feels like. you know those flaming barrels that Donkey Kong throws down at you? Very often game development feels like this stream of burning barrels falling down from a construction site.”
A sudden exit, a continuing blockbuster
Hocking’s abrupt departure from Ubisoft earlier this year, coinciding with a reshuffle within the Assassin’s Creed division, adds another layer to this narrative. Despite the mid-development stage of Assassin’s Creed: Hexe, currently slated for release in 2027, the project remains on track. Now, Jean Guesdon, Head of Content for Assassin’s Creed, leads the charge.
From stealth to legion
Hocking’s journey began with Splinter Cell in 2002, where he contributed as a designer and scriptwriter. He then directed Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Far Cry 2 before returning to Ubisoft for Watch Dogs: Legion in 2020. While the game received a mixed reception, it remains his only officially shipped title since 2008. The experience, as he vividly describes, was a masterclass in the challenges of scaling a creative endeavor.