Ashraf Ismail, Creative Director of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, is stepping away from the project. Such a decision came following public accusations of infidelity. According to said allegations, Ismail took advantage of several women, engaging in relationships with them while hiding his marital status.
Ismail, who also served as the creative lead on Black Flag and AC Origins, announced his departure from Valhalla yesterday in a couple of tweets. In the hours following the announcement, the developer deleted his Twitter profile altogether. The first post from Ismail noted his plans to step down were in an effort to prioritize “personal issues.” Assassin’s Creed fan account AccessTheAniumus managed to save the following screenshot:
The #AssassinsCreed Valhalla Creative Director, Ashraf Ismail, has decided to step down from the project pic.twitter.com/72AfCIOnL9
— AccessTheAnimus (@AccessTheAnimus) June 24, 2020
A subsequent tweet from Ismail’s since-deleted account spoke of a desire to separate his controversies from the team behind Valhalla. It read: “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.”
The infidelity claims against Ismail surfaced over the weekend, when a Twitter user divulged they had a lengthy relationship with him. Unbeknownst to them, he was married the entire time. Screenshots of text messages were shared to support the claims. Allegedly, this is a pattern with Ismail, who used his position to pursue multiple women, all while masking details about his personal life.
As of writing, Ubisoft has yet to announce who will take over Ismail’s role on Valhalla, which is slated to launch this holiday. Although, since the project is at least four to six months out from release, a replacement may not be necessary. We’ll share an update should Ubisoft announce any concrete details on the matter.
