The Times, They Are A-Changin’

If you were hoping for Ismail to make a return to the Assassin’s Creed franchise, it looks like that will not be happening ever again. After an internal investigation, overseen by a third party as per the new regulations, Ismail has been fired from Ubisoft.

The news came earlier today via a file sent to Bloombarg, confirming that the former Lead Director was no longer with the company. Making the future of Assassin’s Creed a little murkier than it was before the investigations.

“As a result of investigations, Ashraf Ismail has been dismissed from Ubisoft and is no longer an employee.”

His leaving Ubisoft and Assassin’s Creed is no small matter

Ashraf Ismail was accused of impropriety earlier this year. A witness to his actions spoke out to Ubisoft, saying that Ismail lied about his marital status to hook up with random women. This report led to a months long investigation into Ismail’s actions within the company.

When the investigation was first launched, Ismail announced that he was stepping away from Assassin’s Creed and Ubisoft. Taking time to figure out his personal life and try to refocus his priorities. Seems that he didn’t figure it out in time to change Ubisoft’s mind on the matter.

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His leaving Ubisoft and Assassin’s Creed is no small matter either. During his time at Ubisoft, Ismail was responsible for the franchise’s biggest positive changes. He pushed for the more RPG cnetric focus that was seen in Origins. This was also where Assassin’s Creed really stepped up the storytelling and acting.

They went on to create Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which became universally acclaimed as one of the best entries in the series. Featuring a massive open world, hundreds of hours of sidequests and well acted family drama centered around the Templars.

The Tip of the Iceberg

We’ll have to wait and see what Ismail’s departure from the company looks like for Assassin’s Creed. As far as Valhalla goes, the game was already pretty much gold before this recent shift in the company.

However, Ismail is not the only issue facing Ubisoft in terms of internal investigations. Several victims and witnesses have spoken up about sexual misconduct and improper conduct in the workplace.

These reports prompted some pretty massive changes to Ubisoft’s infrastructure. Several developers and employees are under scrutiny until the situations are resolved. So Ismail may really just be the tip of the iceberg for games coming out of Ubisoft.

For more news, updates and articles on Ubisoft and Assassin’s Creed, stay tuned here at Scoophash!