The Division Director Leaving Ubisoft For Hitman Dev IO Interactive

While The Division just launched into the gaming world earlier this month, the game’s director is already moving on to something else. The Division director Ryan Barnard will be leaving Ubisoft for IO Interactive, where he’ll be the new Gameplay Director for Hitman.

The announcement was made on the IO Interactive website, where it says that “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. 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.”

It goes on to say that “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.”

While Hitman also launched earlier this month, it was just the first episode of a multi-part series that will run until this Summer. Barnard will definitely have plenty of time to have his influence felt on the rest of the first season, which was met with a slightly-underwhelming response when it launched.