In a follow up, Ismail added: “There are hundreds of talented and passionate people who are striving to build an experience for you who do not deserve to be associated with this. I wish you the best.”
IGN has reached out to Ubisoft to ask how this may affect the development of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and whether a replacement creative director will be announced. Ubisoft provided the following statement:
Ashraf Ismail withdraws from the project to take a leave of absence. The development team is committed to delivering a great game in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. “
Over the weekend, multiple allegations of sexual misconduct were raised within the gaming industry against a variety of figures, including game developers and streamers. This included Ismail, accused of engaging in extramarital affairs and failing to actively disclose, or hide, his marital status to the people he dated.
A Twitter user provided text messages claiming to be text exchanges with Ismail where he appears to hide his marital status.
The gaming industry was rocked by several different allegations, not just against Ismail. Other prominent figures accused of sexual misconduct include writer Chris Avellone, who has since parted ways with developer Techland in Dying Light 2 after multiple allegations of sexual harassment.
Matt Kim is an IGN reporter.
