Assassin's Creed Valhalla's director, Ashraf Ismail, has announced he is stepping down from the role following allegations that he had been having an affair. Shortly before deleting his Twitter account, Ismail said he was "stepping down from my beloved project to properly deal with the personal issues in my life."
Ismail, who was also creative director on Assassin's Creed Origins and game director on Assassin's Creed Black Flag, was accused of claiming he wasn't married so he could have an affair with a Twitch streamer for a year. His accuser also shared screenshots of messages that are in line with her allegations.
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In the past week, many women have been coming forward to make allegations of sexual harassment and assault by people within the game industry. There are multiple allegations currently being levelled against Ubisoft employees, which the publisher has said it is "deeply concerned" about.
In the wake of Ismail's move to step down from his role on the Valhalla team, the publisher released a statement. It simply reads: "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."
The recent wave of allegations began last week with people coming forward to share their stories about popular streamers and people working in that part of the games industry. One set of allegations pushed Omeed Dariani, CEO of Online Performers Group, a streamer management company, to resign.
Since those initial allegations against streamers and others in related circles, more people have come forward to accuse people working elsewhere in the games industry of harassment and abuse. One such developer is the former co-founder of Obsidian Entertainment, Chris Avellone, who has been dropped from the Dying Light 2 development team after accusations against him were made public.
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There is no sign of these allegations stopping, with many people in the industry saying there are more stories to come.
Featured Image Credit: UbisoftTopics: Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Ubisoft