Ryan Barnard has finished his work as game director of The Division, and has left Massive Entertainment just days after the launch of the studio's best-selling online-RPG.
Barnard has decided to hook up with Hitman developers IO Interactive, where he'll take on the newly created role of gameplay director. IOI made the announcement late last week, in the process confirming that the new hire would be joining a 170-strong team that are "collectively working on taking Hitman into a new era of digital-first AAA games."
"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, or at least the first chapter in the now episodic series, launched earlier this month. You can read our review of the Intro Pack here, and our preview of the second and third episodes to find out what's coming next.