Dead Space remake director is former Assassin's Creed Valhalla lead

The Dead Space remake game director has been confirmed as a veteran of the Assassin's Creed franchise.

That would be Eric Baptizat, who just recently updated his LinkedIn profile to reveal that he's now game director of the forthcoming Dead Space remake at EA Motive in Montreal, Canada (thanks, VGC). Baptizat originally departed Ubisoft Montreal in April 2021, and has been working at EA Motive on the Dead Space remake ever since.

Baptizat's game development history is filled with some heavy hitters. Before working on Assassin's Creed Valhalla as game director, he was a lead designer for Assassin's Creed's Black Flag, Unity, and Origins, and prior to having a helping hand shaping Ubisoft's massive franchise, he worked on Shaun White Skateboarding and Surf's Up. 

When Baptizat announced his departure from Ubisoft earlier this year in June, he was just the latest in a long line of high-profile departures from the studio. In March, Valhalla lead writer Darby McDevitt announced he would be leaving Ubisoft Montreal after a decade working there, and last month in July, Valhalla art director Raphael Lacoste revealed he would also be leaving after a 16-year journey with the company. 

As for the Dead Space remake itself, we're slowly learning more information about the project since it was revealed last month in July. As a next-gen exclusive game for the PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC, the Dead Space remake won't have any loading screens, nor will it have any microtransactions. Additionally, original Dead Space user experience director Dino Ignacio is consulting on the new game with EA Motive, and the remake might even feature levels that were cut from the original game due to technical constraints.

Outside of this though, all we've seen of the actual remake so far is a very slim teaser trailer. It's clear that EA Motive's Dead Space remake is at least a few years out from seeing the light of day, but the thought of precariously stalking the hallways of the USG Ishimura, potentially with brand new levels and areas of the ship itself to explore for the very first time, is a fantastic prospect.

For a lovely little detail about the original game, head over to our piece on how Resident Evil 4 director Shinji Mikami reacted to seeing Dead Space for the first time.