
Jade Raymond is the former managing director of Ubisoft and helped created and produce many of the Assassin’s Creed games. Known for being a razor-sharp businesswoman and talented producer, Jade Raymond left Ubisoft right around the time that GamerGate was taking form. Her departure was surprisingly overlooked by the anti-GG movement. I remember being on Facebook and mentioning her leaving and nobody seemed to know who she was, a true shame.
In case you are wondering what Jade Raymond had to say on GamerGate, she was at one point goaded by the video game-hating journalists of Polygon to speak on the topic. Not taking the bait, she managed to play the lin; while also throwing some subtle daggers at them for their negative attitude towards the industry. In short, she’s a rational thinker and not a social justice warrior.
Jade Raymond Creates Motive With EA
This week, Raymond announced that she’s joining Electronic Arts and will be heading up her own new studio called Motive. The new studio will work closely with BioWare on the upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda. In addition to this, Raymond will team up with Amy Hennig, writer of the upcoming Star Wars game. Jade Raymond spoke about working with Hennig with GameSpot:
I’ve known Amy for years and have admired her work on the Uncharted games! 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.
The new Star Wars game will reportedly closely resemble the famed Star Wars: 1313, and there are rumors that the game might be open-world, a very exciting prospect. Jade Raymond seems to be moving forward in her career, and while Electronic Arts might not be the most savory of AAA publishers, it’s hard to deny she appears to be on track to reach new heights.
I for one am interested to see what the team behind Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted and Dead Space can bring to the Star Wars universe. Maybe I am naively optimistic, but I have faith in Raymond to help produce a good product.
Read More: A Review of Star Wars: Republic Commando