Former Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs Director Likens Large-Scale Game Development to Working With ‘Flaming Barrels Falling Down From a Construction Site,’ Months After Parting Ways With Ubisoft
Veteran game director Clint Hocking, known for his work on Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell franchises, has opened up about his departure from Ubisoft earlier in 2026. In a recent discussion, Hocking compared the experience of leading large-scale game development at Ubisoft to working amid “flaming barrels falling down from a construction site”—a vivid metaphor referencing the arcade classic Donkey Kong.
Hocking’s candid assessment reflects his frustration with the challenges of overseeing massive development teams. As team sizes grew during his tenure leading Watch Dogs Legion, a multi-studio effort within Ubisoft, he found himself becoming less effective in his leadership role. The complexity of coordinating multiple studios and managing increasingly large groups appears to have contributed to his feeling of diminished impact on the final product.
The director’s remarks highlight a broader challenge within modern AAA game development: the tension between creating ambitious, large-scale projects and maintaining creative efficiency and vision. His departure from Ubisoft came during a significant period of restructuring at the publisher, which has faced various organizational challenges in recent years. Hocking’s commentary provides insight into the operational difficulties that can arise when game development scales to massive proportions, where creative leadership becomes diluted across numerous teams and priorities.