Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat has shared some information about the development of Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 Patriots, clarifying that the project is still on track. The recent departure of creative director David Sears from the edgy tactical shooter caused some concerns among fans that the game would take a different tact. Despite the shake-up, Mallat insists that the original vision of the game, pioneered by Sears, will remain largely in-tact.

According to a recent interview with Mallat by GameInformer, Sears' departure from the project was an amicable one. In fact, Ubisoft Montreal now has Sears working on his next project, which Mallat describes as "a major project for a major brand." As for Patriots, he asserts that the team will continue "evolving the vision that came from David's initial input."

Sears echoed Mallat's sentiments:

"I've watched the forum comments, and one of the things that's really important for everyone to understand is senior management and the editorial group challenged me to create something plausible, relevant, and that touches on the current fears of the U.S. citizens to the point that I was almost surprised myself we were taking these creative risks. They are still behind it. I spent time working on it because I love it, but there comes a point where you give the vision to everybody and they embrace it and start telling me what the vision is now."

If you were a fan of the new direction the series was taking under Sears' direction, it sounds like the current team is taking up the mantle, rather than trying to reinvent it.

Mallat also confirmed that Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 Patriots is still planned to release in 2013.