Tom Clancy's The Division may have been made with the help of many, many studios, but it was Ryan Barnard at Ubisoft Massive who served as game director for the online shooter. I say "served" in the past tense because this month, Barnard started his new job with IO Interactive, the development studio behind Hitman.
Barnard now serves in the newly-created position of Gameplay Director, though IO Interactive is being vague about just what that means. "Ryan will focus on expanding on the near-endless possibilities of gameplay that a game like Hitman possesses," the company wrote on its website. "This means heading up the future efforts of three of our very core teams – gameplay, online and world."
Hitman was changed to an episodic model late in development. Perhaps Barnard, who has experience in games that evolve post-launch thanks to his time spent on EverQuest 2 and Warhammer Online, can use that to his advantage.
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Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.
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