What you need to know
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Creative Director Ashraf Ismail has stepped down from the project.
- He stepped down to deal with personal issues in his life, which comes after he was accused of cheating on his wife.
- Other Ubisoft employees have been accused of sexual harassment and assault.
Ashraf Ismail, Creative Director on Assassin's Creed Origins and the upcoming Assassin's Creed Valhalla, is stepping away from the project to deal with personal issues. He was recently accused of cheating on his wife on Twitter and lying about his marital status.
In a tweet announcing his departure from Valhalla, Ismail said that he is "deeply sorry to everyone hurt in this."
I am stepping down from my beloved project to properly deal with the personal issues in my life. The lives of my family and my own are shattered. I am deeply sorry to everyone hurt in this.There are hundreds of talented, passionate people striving to build an experience for you that do not deserve to be associated with this. I wish them all the best.
Several Ubisoft developers have found themselves accused of sexual harassment and assault recently, including Product and Brand Marketing Manager Andrien Gbinigie, who denied the accusations in a since-removed Medium post.
In reference to Gbinigie and other accusations, a Ubisoft spokesperson said, "We are deeply concerned by these accusations. We take any allegations of abuse or harassment very seriously and we are looking very closely into the allegations to determine next steps."
It's unknown at this time whether Ismail will come back to the project at some point or what Ubisoft will be doing to handle these other serious accusations.
Just yesterday, writer Chris Avellone was removed from several projects including Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 and Waylanders, and Dying Light developer Techland has severed their relationship.
