Former Ubisoft creative director Clint Hocking has said that leading development on very large video games can feel chaotic and inefficient, comparing it to avoiding “flaming barrels” in Donkey Kong. His comments matter because they highlight how growing team sizes and multi-studio production can make direct creative oversight slower and more detached from the people building individual features.

Hocking contrasted this with his work on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, when he could speak directly to developers and give detailed feedback. On Watch Dogs: Legion, which involved around 1,000 people, reviews could include 30 managers while the relevant level designer was absent, and requested changes might take six weeks to appear; Hocking left Ubisoft earlier in 2026 while leading Assassin’s Creed Hexe, which is reportedly still planned for 2027.