Assassin’s Creed producer and former MD Ubisoft Toronto Jade Raymond joined Electronics Arts. She’ll be forming a new studio under EA called Motive Studios, which will be based in Montreal, Canada. It’ll start by supporting Visceral Games on the production of Amy Hennig’s new Star Wars game.
“I cannot think of a more exciting time to be a part of EA than right now,” she said as part of a statement. “In the first conversations I had with Patrick Söderlund, we talked about the games that we love and the opportunities that we saw for the future. We talked about how EA wants to deliver more innovative experiences and more of what players are asking for. It’s energising to see EA today bringing more passion than ever to the games that they make, and passion to getting it right for players.”
In addition to building the new studio, Raymond will also be overseeing Visceral Games following the departure of Steve Papoutsis earlier in the year. “I’ve known Amy for years and have admired her work on the Uncharted games,” she said. “I’m thrilled that the first big project that we will work on in Montreal will have Amy as creative director. An opportunity to work with her and the Visceral team, and to play in the Star Wars universe, is once-in-a-lifetime stuff.”
Last year in Octorber, Raymond departed Ubisoft after a decade working her way up the corporate ladder. At the time she said that she was eager to “pursue other ambitions and new opportunities”. She does mention new intellectual property a lot in her statement, so hopefully once this new Star Wars title is wrapped up, she’ll be given the opportunity to flex her creative muscles a bit.