Assassin’s Creed Valhalla creative director steps down after allegations of infidelity

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla creative director Ashraf Ismail has announced that he is stepping down from the game’s development amid allegations of infidelity. Ismail was previously game director on Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Origins

In a now removed tweet, he said, “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.”

He continued, “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.”

According to the allegations on Twitter, Ismail cheated on his wife and lied about the relationship to women he sought to have affairs with.

Ubisoft said in a statement: “Ashraf Ismail is stepping down from the project to take a leave of absence. The development team is committed to delivering a great game in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.”

This is just one case is a flood of allegations across the games industry in the last few days, as people speak out about abuse. A number of Twitch Partner streamers have been implicated, with the streaming platform issuing a statement that they are actively investigating the allegations, while several game companies have distanced themselves from games writer Chris Avellone, and Insomniac Games issued a statement regarding allegations of a culture of sexual harassment within the studio.

Numerous Ubisoft employees have been named through this, far beyond what we’ve currently reported on this week. In response to the earliest allegations, Ubisoft issued a statement on Tuesday: “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.”

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