Clint Hocking | |
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Born | September 18, 1972 |
Nationality | Canadian |
Education | Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of British Columbia |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2001–present |
Employers |
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Works |
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Children | 1 |
Website | clicknothing.com |
Clint Hocking (born 18 September 1972) is a Canadian video game designer and director. He has primarily worked at the Canadian divisions of Ubisoft, where he developed three titles, and briefly worked at LucasArts, Valve, and Amazon Game Studios.
Hocking started his career at Ubisoft, where he first designed and wrote scripts for 2002's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell . He rose to prominence when he moved up to direct 2005's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory , which was both a critical and commercial success. He went on direct 2008's Far Cry 2 , which was positively received by critics. In 2010, he left Ubisoft Montreal due to him being "too comfortable" at the studio. Between 2010 and 2015, Hocking joined LucasArts, Valve, and Amazon Game Studios in various senior roles. Throughout this period, he did not release any new games and in August 2015 returned to Ubisoft, this time at their Toronto studio. At this studio, he directed Watch Dogs: Legion (2020) which received mixed reception from critics. By July 2021, he returned to Montreal studio and is due to direct Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe and co-direct the Assassin's Creed Infinity game platform with Jonathan Dumont. Across his career, Hocking has written monthly columns for the video game magazine Edge , and coined the term ludonarrative dissonance.
Hocking was born on 18 September 1972 and is from Montreal, Canada. [1] [2]
Hocking started his career as a writer for website companies whilst completing his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. [3] During this time, he was experimenting with the level editor UnreadlEd, which he used to make a mod and complete a game level. [3] With this experience, he sent his résumé in as "a lark" to Ubisoft Montreal and was subsequently hired as a level designer on 2002's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell . [3] [4] During development, both the scriptwriter and game designer left the project and Hocking took on both roles, in addition to being a level designer. [3] [5] Upon release, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell was well-received by critics, receiving "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator Metacritic. [6]
After the release of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Ubisoft Montreal began development for 2005's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Hocking continued as the scriptwriter as well as the lead level designer. [7] In the alpha stage of development, Hocking initially declined the creative director role due to having two positions already, but he changed his mind a week later. [7] [8] During the game's two-year development, Hocking was working 80 hours a week. [8] [9] This large workload caused him to have gaps in his recent memory, such as completely forgetting a week he spent socialising with a former colleague due to brain damage. [8] [9] [10] [11] Upon release, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was universally acclaimed by critics and was a commercial success. [12] [13] Soon after, development of 2008's Far Cry 2 , a first-person shooter featuring an open world environment set in a fictional African country, started with Hocking as the creative director and scriptwriter. [5] [7] [14] [15] [16] Upon release, Far Cry 2 was positively received by critics. [17] Hocking and critics noted some of its reception was polarizing, which he attributed to the game breaking many conventions of the shooter and open world genre. [14] [18] [19] Some gameplay elements, which immersed the player, critics found polarizing. [15] [18] [19] This included when the player's firearm would jam, a map being a crumpled piece of paper in the player character's hands as opposed to one found within a menu, and malaria which the player character can get throughout the game and needs to treated by medicine from civilians otherwise the player character will die. [15] [18] [19] [20]
In May 2010, after almost nine years at Ubisoft Montreal, Hocking left because he felt he had become "too comfortable" at the studio and wanted a new challenge. [4] [21]
Three months later, Hocking joined LucasArts, based in San Francisco, as the creative director on an unannounced project. [21] [22] [23] In June 2012, Hocking left LucasArts without releasing a new game. [24] [25] [26] He stated he wanted to move "on to something new"; [27] It is not known what projects he was working whilst at LucasArts. [26] Two weeks later, Hocking joined Valve in Seattle, Washington in an unspecified role. [23] [28] [29] In January 2014, Hocking left Valve without releasing a game. [30] [31] [32]
In April of the same year, joined Amazon Game Studios, also based in Seattle. [33] [34] Hocking worked as a senior game designer an unspecified project for Amazon's Fire devices. [35] [36] In August 2015, he left Amazon Game Studios. [35] [36] [37] Hocking said he enjoyed working with new people but wanted to work on something that people will get to play, having realized that he has not shipped a game in seven years. [35] [37] Hocking also expressed difficulties in obtaining a green card and being on his third visa whilst in the United States, which was another reason he wanted to return to Canada. [35] A few days later, he returned to Ubisoft, this time at their Toronto studio, saying it felt like a reunion. [35] [37] He was excited to return to Ubisoft, and he stated: "I know most of the people who were involved in founding the studio personally, and almost all of them are still here". [38] Hocking's first project at the studio was as creative director for Watch Dogs: Legion , a game that was announced at E3 2019. [39] Hocking noted that most of the developers who worked on Watch Dogs (2014) and Watch Dogs 2 (2016) were part of his team when he directed Far Cry 2. [40] Legion was released in October 2020 and received mixed reviews from critics. [41] [42]
By July 2021, he returned to Ubisoft Montreal. [43] Hocking, alongside Jonathan Dumont, will serve as Assassin's Creed Infinity 's creative directors with Dumont and Hocking leading the Ubisoft Quebec and Montreal divisions, respectively. [44]
Across his career, Hocking has written monthly columns for the video game magazine, Edge . [25] [32] Additionally, he was a part of an Advisory Committee with industry veterans Raph Koster, Ray Muzyka, Ryan Lesser, and Brian Reynolds to pick Special Award winners at Game Developers Choice Awards 2008. [45]
In a 2007 blog post, Hocking coined the term ludonarrative dissonance as a term for the conflict between a video game's narrative told through the story and the video game's narrative told through the gameplay. [46] [47] [48] Ludonarrative, a compound of ludology and narrative, refers to the intersection in a video game of ludic elements (gameplay) and narrative elements. In the post, he critiqued BioShock (2007), feeling that while the narrative wants the protagonist to be selfless, the actual mechanics of BioShock rely on selfishness and the pursuit of power. [47] [48]
Hocking has a wife and one son. [8] [28] [35] He identifies as a socialist. [49]
Year | Game title | Role(s) | Notes | Ref(s). |
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2002 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell | Game designer, scriptwriter, level designer | — | [5] [50] |
2005 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory | Creative director, scriptwriter, lead level designer | — | [7] |
2008 | Far Cry 2 | Creative director, scriptwriter | — | [16] [51] |
2020 | Watch Dogs: Legion | Creative director | — | [52] |
Upcoming | Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe | Creative director | hosted on the live-service platform Assassin's Creed Infinity which Hocking co-directs with Jonathan Dumont [44] | [53] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
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2011 | Gamers Heart Japan | Himself | Documentary | [54] |
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a 2002 stealth game developed by Ubi Soft Montreal and published by Ubi Soft. It is the first game in the Splinter Cell series. Endorsed by author Tom Clancy, it follows the activities of NSA black ops agent Sam Fisher. The game was inspired by both the Metal Gear series and games created by Looking Glass Studios, and was built using Unreal Engine 2.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a series of stealth action-adventure video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels that were endorsed by Tom Clancy. The series follows Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of a fictional black-ops sub-division within the NSA, dubbed "Third Echelon", as he overcomes his adversaries. Levels are created using Unreal Engine and emphasize light and darkness as gameplay elements. The series has been positively received, and was once considered to be one of Ubisoft's flagship franchises. The series had sold 19 million units by 2008. No further installments have been released since 2013. A remake of the first game was announced in December 2021. Some of the game's characters are featured in XDefiant.
Ubisoft Entertainment SA is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include Assassin's Creed, Driver, Far Cry, Just Dance, Prince of Persia, Rabbids, Rayman, Tom Clancy's, and Watch Dogs.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is a 2004 stealth game developed and published by Ubisoft Shanghai and Ubisoft Milan. The game is the sequel to Splinter Cell and the second game in the Splinter Cell series endorsed by writer Tom Clancy. It follows the covert activities of Sam Fisher, an agent working for a black-ops branch of the National Security Agency (NSA) called "Third Echelon". Michael Ironside returns to voice Sam Fisher, while Dennis Haysbert voices the character Irving Lambert, Fisher's boss, making this the only time he is not voiced by Don Jordan. Lalo Schifrin provides the theme music for the game.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a stealth game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Milan. The game was released for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Windows and Xbox in March 2005. Handheld versions for the Nintendo DS, mobile, and N-Gage were also released.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon is a series of military tactical shooter video games published by Ubisoft. In the series, the player is in charge of a fictional, newly conceived squad of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers from Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group stationed at Fort Bragg. Except for the "1st Battalion, 5th SFG" designation, this reconnaissance unit is entirely fictional, as Special Forces Battalions currently only support three Companies. They are often referred to as "the Ghosts". Their role is like other real world special operations forces, in that their operations are kept highly classified. In Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, it is shown that the Ghost's unit has multiple designations and is part of JSOC; they are also known as the Group for Specialized Tactics, much like real JSOC units such as Delta Force and SEAL Team Six. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon has also been novelized by Grant Blackwood under the pseudonym David Michaels.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent is a 2006 stealth game developed by Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Shanghai, and published by Ubisoft. The Splinter Cell series, endorsed by American author Tom Clancy, follows Sam Fisher, an agent employed by a black-ops division of the National Security Agency (NSA), dubbed Third Echelon. The game was released for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360 in October 2006. The Wii and Windows versions were released in November 2006. A PlayStation 3 version was released in March 2007.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials is an action-adventure video game with heavy emphasis on stealth. It is part of the Splinter Cell series and was released for the PlayStation Portable handheld system. It was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft on March 21, 2006. It is the fourth entry in the series and runs on the Unreal Engine 2.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction is a 2010 stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Microsoft Game Studios and Ubisoft. The game is a sequel to Splinter Cell: Double Agent and part of the Splinter Cell series. Key members of the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas team, such as creative director Maxime Béland worked on the game. It released for Windows and Xbox 360 in April 2010. Gameloft released a handheld version for Apple's iOS in May/July 2010. There are also versions available for Android, Windows Phone and Bada, as well as a side-scrolling 2D version for mobile phones.
Far Cry 2 is a 2008 first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A top-down shooter version for mobile phones was developed and published by Gameloft. It is the second mainline entry in the Far Cry series. Set in a fictional African country engulfed in civil war, the storyline follows a mercenary who is assigned to kill the Jackal, a weapons dealer inflaming the conflict. The player navigates the open world, completing missions for factions and allies called Buddies while managing their health and equipment. A competitive multiplayer mode allows players to fight in teams or as individuals.
Ubisoft Divertissements Inc., doing business as Ubisoft Montreal, is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Montreal.
Ubisoft Toronto Inc. is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Toronto. The studio was established under Jade Raymond in September 2010. Games developed by Ubisoft Toronto include Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Far Cry 5, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, Far Cry 6, and Watch Dogs Legion.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist is a 2013 stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Toronto and published by Ubisoft. The game is the sequel to Splinter Cell: Conviction and the seventh installment of the Splinter Cell series. Players control Sam Fisher, a highly trained operative working for the Fourth Echelon, in a mission to stop the Engineers, a group of terrorists which is trying to coerce the United States into recalling all of its troops stationed abroad. The gameplay is similar to its predecessors, with players tasked with completing objectives and defeating enemies. Blacklist marks the return of the asymmetrical multiplayer mode Spies vs. Mercs, which was introduced in Pandora Tomorrow.
Ubisoft Film & Television is a French-American film and television production company and a subsidiary of video game publisher Ubisoft based in Montreuil and Los Angeles. The company was founded on 2011, and is in charge of producing films and television shows based on Ubisoft franchises and inspired by Ubisoft's worlds and gaming culture.
Watch Dogs: Legion is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Toronto and published by Ubisoft. It is the sequel to 2016's Watch Dogs 2 and the third installment in the Watch Dogs series. Set within a fictionalised representation of a futuristic, dystopian London, the game's story follows the hacker syndicate DedSec as they seek to clear their names after being framed for a series of terrorist bombings. While searching for the true culprits, DedSec also attempt to liberate London's citizens from the control of Albion, an oppressive private military company that has turned the city into a surveillance state following the bombings.
Watch Dogs is an action-adventure video game franchise published by Ubisoft, and developed primarily by its Montreal and Toronto studios using the Disrupt game engine. The series' eponymous first title was released in 2014, and it has featured three games in total, the most recent being 2020's Watch Dogs: Legion. Several tie-in books and comic book miniseries set in the games' universe have also been published.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction is an online multiplayer tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. A spin-off of Rainbow Six Siege (2015), Extraction is a cooperative multiplayer game in which players must work together to combat and defeat a type of parasite-like aliens called the Archæans. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Google Stadia, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on January 20, 2022. It received mixed reviews from critics.
XDefiant is a 2024 free-to-play first-person shooter game developed by Ubisoft San Francisco and published by Ubisoft. The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on May 21, 2024. It received mixed reviews from critics.