He co-founded the studio Vlambeer with Jan Willem Nijman in 2010, where they developed games such as Ridiculous Fishing, Luftrausers, and Nuclear Throne.

[3] Through Vlambeer, Ismail led the development of presskit() and distribute(), free online tools for independent developers to prepare and distribute press kits and marketing materials, demo-ready copies of games, and other materials to press members.

[4][5] As a Muslim and frequently in contact with members of the video game industry outside of Western and Asian nations, Ismail has spoken about better reaching programmers in developing countries.

In January 2019, Ismail announced the establishment of Gamedev.world, a game developer conference aimed at independent game developers from these affected countries that he founded with Sarah Elmaleh, Gwen Frey, Houssem Ben Amor and Gabriel Dal Santo.

[13] In December 2018, Ismail was invited to the "Uitblinkerslunch" with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima,[14] an annual event that honors a handful of Dutch people who have achieved "extraordinary accomplishments".