Assassin's Creed creative director begins work at THQ

Patrice Desilets is finally ready to get to work at THQ. Eight months after THQ announced that it had wooed the Assassin's Creed creative director away from Ubisoft, the publisher said today that Desilets has officially begun work on an all-new property at the newly formed THQ Montreal.

THQ has not offered any indication as to the nature of Desilets' first project for the publisher. However, the new studio head hasn't wasted time with bringing over talent from his former employer. Earlier this year, THQ VP Danny Bilson confirmed that the publisher had recruited three "key members" of Ubisoft Montreal.

Of course, those hires may not have been entirely on the up-and-up. In late March, word surfaced that Ubisoft had been granted a recruitment injunction against THQ to prevent the publisher from further poaching at its studios. According to court documents, Desilets had violated the one-year non-compete clause in his contract with Ubisoft by having THQ hire art director Alex Drouin, production manager Mark Besner, and associate producer Jean-Francois Boivin.

The Desilets-helmed project isn't the only activity occurring at THQ Montreal. Earlier this week, the publisher confirmed that it had moved its Homefront franchise to the Canadian outfit, after shutting down franchise creator Kaos Studios.