Claude Guillemot, who built Ubisoft into a gaming empire, dies at 69 in plane crash

The co-founder and architect behind Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and the Tom Clancy franchises died Friday in a Cessna crash near La Baule, France.

A founder of global gaming company Ubisoft, maker of Assassin’s Creed, was killed in a plane crash in western France, authorities said Saturday.

The twin-motor Cessna 421 carrying Claude Guillemot and a flight instructor crashed Friday evening near La Baule airport on the Atlantic coast, Mayor Franck Louvrier said in a statement. Both were licensed and experienced pilots. The instructor also was killed, the mayor said. An investigation is underway.

Ubisoft confirmed Guillemot’s death but did not comment further.

The plane crashed in a field just before landing at La Baule-Escoublac Airport, an airport official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be publicly named.

Guillemot and four brothers founded Ubisoft in 1986. In addition to the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise, Ubisoft’s games also include Just Dance, and the Rayman and Tom Clancy game franchises.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com