Ashraf Ismail
Photographer: Troy Harvey / Bloomberg
Photographer: Troy Harvey / Bloomberg
Ubisoft Entertainment SA has fired the creative director of the latest Assassin’s Creed game, the latest result of a MeToo calculation by the French video game publisher that has been spinning for two months.
Ashraf Ismail, the director of Autumn Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, was accused by a fan in June of lying about his marital status to have a relationship with her. Shortly afterwards, Ismail wrote on Twitter that he had resigned from his role, adding that he was “deeply sorry for anyone who was hurt here”, but he remained an Ubisoft employee. The publisher informed staff this week that he was fired.
“As a result of investigations, Ashraf Ismail has been fired from Ubisoft and is no longer an employee,” a Ubisoft spokesman confirmed to Bloomberg. Ismail did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In late June, dozens of people, mostly women, spoke out on social media about their experiences of sexual harassment and assault in the video games and streaming industry. Many of those accusations have been leveled at Ubisoft, which has since come under fire for what many described as a ‘boys’ club culture’. Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot has promised major changes. In interviews with Businessweek, more than three dozen current and former Ubisoft employees painted the picture of a company that had been aware of many of these accusations for years.
Since the allegations surfaced, Ubisoft has also been parting ways with divorce top executives Tommy François and Maxime Béland as well as several other employees in lower positions. Last month, the company fired Chief Creative Officer Serge Hascoët, one of the most powerful people at Ubisoft.
Ismail spent 11 years at Ubisoft in Montreal and also directed two previous Assassin’s Creed games, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag in 2013 and Assassin’s Creed Origins in 2017.
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