The Division’s Game Director Leaves Ubisoft For Hitman Developer

Ryan Barnard, game director of Tom Clancy’s The Division, has left Ubisoft Massive to join IO Interactive, developer of Hitman.

Barnard left Massive in February, just before the launch of The Division, and joined IO earlier this month according to his LinkedIn profile. He worked at Massive for more than four years, prior to which he was a game designer at Sony Online Entertainment, EA Mythic, and Crytek.

“As we continue to grow our commitment to the Hitman game franchise, it’s with tremendous excitement that we can announce another great addition to the Io-Interactive family,” IO commented on its website. “Ryan Barnard comes to us after having recently finished his work on Massive Entertainment’s ‘The Division‘ and will join the Io-Interactive in the newly created role of Gameplay Director.

“Ryan will focus on expanding on the near-endless possibilities of gameplay that a game like Hitman possesses. This means heading up the future efforts of three of our very core teams – gameplay, online and world – which will be no small task. Ryan’s contributions to game design over the years show he’s the ideal person to spearhead the coming efforts. We are very happy to add his talent to the pool of great people working at IOI.”

Hitman’s first episode launched last Friday, just days after The Division. Hitman will expand with new episodes throughout the year which add extra locations and contracts. The Division is also expected to get bigger, with new areas of New York including Central Park potentially heading to the game in future.