Clint Hocking

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Clint Hocking
Amazon Game Studios (2014–2015)
  • Ubisoft Toronto (2015–2020/2021)
    • Works
    Children1
    Websiteclicknothing.com

    Clint Hocking (born 18 September 1972) is a Canadian

    Amazon Game Studios
    .

    Hocking started his career at Ubisoft, where he first designed and wrote scripts for 2002's

    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
    .

    Early life

    Hocking was born on 18 September 1972 and is from Montreal, Canada.[1][2]

    Career

    Hocking started his career as a writer for website companies whilst completing his

    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

    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]

    Hocking delivering a keynote at Game Design Expo 2009

    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.

    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

    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.

    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]

    Ludonarrative dissonance

    Main article: Ludonarrative dissonance

    In a 2007 blog post, Hocking coined the term

    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]

    Personal life

    Hocking has a wife and one son.

    socialist.[49]

    Works

    Video games

    Year Game title Role(s) Notes Ref(s).
    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 Infinity
         		Creative director co-direct with Jonathan Dumont; a platform to host Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe [44]
    Upcoming Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe Creative director part of Assassin's Creed Infinity [53]

    Films and television

    Year Title Role Notes Ref.
    2011 Gamers Heart Japan Himself Documentary [54]

    References

    1. ^ Sources for birthday as 18 September:
      • Hocking, Clint [@ClickNothing] (4 November 2010). "Birthday drinks at Baldwin Barmacie with a bunch if Ubisoft drunks. Yaaayyy!" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 October 2020 – via Twitter.
      • Hocking, Clint [@ClickNothing] (18 September 2013). "Thanks for releasing your book on my birthday, Tom. Can't think of a better gift" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 October 2020 – via Twitter.
      • Hocking, Clint [@ClickNothing] (4 November 2010). "Thanks to all the folks who stumbled through the Baldwin for my birthday last night. It was a blast" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 October 2020 – via Twitter.
      Sources for birth year as 1972:
    2. News Corporation. Archived
      from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
    3. ^ a b c d Moyles, Thom (24 May 2005). "Interview with Clint Hocking". Gamecritics. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
    4. ^ a b Purchese, Robert (4 May 2010). "Far Cry 2 creator leaves Ubisoft". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    5. ^ a b c "Ex-Far Cry 2 director Clint Hocking leaves Valve". MCV/Develop. Biz Media. 6 January 2014. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
    6. CBS Interactive. 17 November 2002. Archived
      from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020. "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (PC)".
      CBS Interactive. 19 February 2003. Archived
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    7. ^
      Ubisoft News. Ubisoft. Archived
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    8. ^ a b c d Hocking, Clint (22 March 2015). "Ten Years Down". Click Nothing. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
    9. ^
      Future Publishing. Archived
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    10. Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived
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    12. CBS Interactive. 28 March 2005. Archived
      from the original on 3 April 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2020. "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (PC)".
      CBS Interactive. 28 March 2005. Archived
      from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
    13. ^ "4th Quarter 2004-2005 Sales: €221 Million (Up by 50% at Constant Exchange Rates) FY 2004-2005: 17 Million Units Sold Under 8 Major Brands, Operating Cash Flow* Over €50 Million" (Press release). Ubisoft. 28 April 2005. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017.
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      CBS Interactive. Archived
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    16. ^ a b Ubisoft Montreal (21 October 2008). Far Cry 2 (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360). Ubisoft. Level/area: Credits.
    17. CBS Interactive. 21 October 2008. Archived
      from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020. "Far Cry 2 (PlayStation 3)".
      CBS Interactive. 21 October 2008. Archived
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      CBS Interactive. 21 October 2008. Archived
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    18. ^
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    19. ^ a b c Juba, Joe (9 October 2013). "Attack and Defense: Five Polarizing Games". Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
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      United Business Media. Archived
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    22. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (9 August 2010). "Far Cry 2 dev joins new LucasArts project". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
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      CBS Interactive. Archived
      from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    24. News Corporation. Archived
      from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    25. ^
      Univision Communications. Archived
      from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    26. ^ a b "Clint Hocking leaves LucasArts". MCV/Develop. Biz Media. 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    27. ^ Nunneley, Stephany (29 June 2012). "Clint Hocking departs LucasArts, "moving on to something new"". VG247. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    28. ^ a b Purchese, Robert (12 July 2012). "Valve hires Far Cry 2, Splinter Cell VIP Clint Hocking". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
    29. GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived
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    30. Future Publishing. Archived
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    31. Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Gamer Network. Archived
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    32. ^ a b O'Brien, Lucy (6 January 2014). "Clint Hocking Leaves Valve". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
    33. Univision Communications. Archived
      from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    34. ^ Webster, Andrew (2 April 2014). "Amazon hires 'Portal' designer to bolster gaming on Fire TV". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    35. ^ a b c d e f Grubb, Jeff (27 August 2015). "Far Cry 2 director Clint Hocking left Amazon to rejoin Ubisoft". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    36. ^
      CBS Interactive. Archived
      from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
    37. ^ a b c Orland, Kyle (27 August 2015). "Key Splinter Cell, Far Cry 2 designer returns to Ubisoft after five years". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    38. GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived
      from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
    39. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (14 June 2019). "Of course Watch Dogs: Legion made it onto the BBC". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 14 June 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
    40. Gamasutra. UBM Technology Group. Archived
      from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
    41. ^ Stapleton, Dan (28 October 2020). "Watch Dogs: Legion Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
    42. CBS Interactive. 29 October 2020. Archived
      from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020. "Watch Dogs: Legion (PC)".
      CBS Interactive. 29 October 2020. Archived
      from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020. "Watch Dogs: Legion (PlayStation 4)".
      CBS Interactive. 29 October 2020. Archived
      from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
    43. Ubisoft News. Ubisoft
      . Retrieved 2 January 2020.
    44. ^ a b Saed, Sherif (7 July 2021). "Assassin's Creed Infinity is an evolving live service game with multiple historical settings – report [Update]". VG247. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
    45. ^ "Game Developers Choice Awards To Bestow 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award On Computer Strategy Game Legend Sid Meier". Game Developers Choice Awards. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
    46. Future Publishing. 29 May 2015. Archived
      from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
    47. ^ a b Stuart, Keith (18 May 2012). "Max Payne 3 and the problem of narrative dissonance". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
    48. ^ a b Hocking, Clint (7 October 2007). "Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock". Click Nothing. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
    49. ^ Hocking, Clint [@ClickNothing] (22 August 2019). "I'm over 40, a socialist, not a boomer, raised during the Cold War, and pretty certain boomers - as a generality - are freaked the fuck out by me too. Can you push the line back to 'under 50'?" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 October 2020 – via Twitter.
    50. Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Gamer Network. 14 December 2014. Archived
      from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    51. ^ Reynolds, Matthew (6 January 2014). "Far Cry 2 creative director Clint Hocking leaves Valve". Digital Spy. Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    52. ^ Purslow, Matt (10 June 2019). "Watch Dogs Legion's Director on Brexit, Politics, and Ubisoft - E3 2019". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
    53. ^ Hocking, Clint [@ClickNothing] (10 September 2022). "After over a year of working in the darkness, happy to announce I'm working as the Creative Director on Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe, with an amazing team in Montreal! UbiForward" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 October 2020 – via Twitter.
    54. CBS Interactive. 3 April 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2020 – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link
      )

    External links
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