‘The Division’ Director Jumps Ship From Ubisoft to Square Enix
The director on Ubisoft’s newly released smash hit video game “Tom Clancy‘s The Division” left the company before
In a statement on its website, Copenhagen-based video game development studio IO Interactive announced Ryan Barnard’s hiring as gameplay director on its new episodic “Hitman” title, which launched the same week as “The Division.” Barnard will oversee three of the teams at IO that will be constructing
Barnard was an employee at Ubisoft Massive in Malmo, Sweden (located across the Oresund Strait from Copenhagen), where he worked for four and a half years and was the boss on “The Division” for three, according to his LinkedIn page, which notes that the end of his tenure at Massive came in February.
Also Read: Dear Video Games: Your Politics Are Showing, Whether You Like It Or Not (Commentary)
It’s a high-profile loss for Massive, particularly coming at the conclusion of pre-release work on “The Division,” the biggest new release of 2016 thus far. “The Division” was originally planned for launch in 2014 but was pushed repeatedly to this year, with numerous rumors of hiccups behind the scenes along the way as several other Ubisoft studios were brought in to aid in production.
Ubisoft did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Review: 'Hitman' Video Game Is Morbidly Entertaining For Most Of The Right Reasons
'Assassin's Creed' Movie Getting Expensive Pre-Order Bonuses
What Is A Video Game? A Short Explainer
Angela Bassett on Playing a Badass in 'Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege' (Video)