It has been a rocky few months for developer IO Interactive after publisher Square Enix announced its plans to sell the studio, but the story has come to a satisfying conclusion. IO Interactive is now an independent studio and it has kept all rights to the Hitman IP.
Speaking on the IO Interactive blog, CEO Hakan Abrak said that it's a watershed moment for the company. "As of today, we have complete control over the direction for our studio and the Hitman IP – we’re about to forge our own future and it’s incredibly exciting. We are now open to opportunities with future collaborators and partners to help strengthen us as a studio and ensure that we can produce the best games possible for our community."
Abrak then goes on to thank the Hitman community for their support, and teases plans to encourage players to try out one of last year's biggest surprise hits, with more details coming next week.
[source ioi.dk]
Comments 11
Good news. I just hope they have enough capital to maintain standards for the inevitable S2.
well i wish them luck
That's good news - not that Hitman is a gaming Franchise I am particularly keen on but at least they are surviving...
Glad to see it's ended in a fairly happy way, I wish them all the luck to the future.
Good for IO. Glad they have the Hitman IP. I don't think I would want to know what Square would've done if they kept it and let a terrible dev try making a game with it.
@Deadlyblack
The same thing they have been doing with their other ip's' either take a decade to produce something.
Or chop things up with DLC up the hilt and then complain it's not selling well.
Good luck to them. I think this means we won't see some of the shadier splitting of content into multiple mini releases (IO's plan was to release two parts but when SE were worried they might need to delay release they split it into multiple 'episodes' from what I understand which is why the releases were uneven). I hope Season 2 does well and they can go from strength to strength.
That's a relief, I was worried for awhile. Looking forward to more Hitman in the future.
But do they own the Freedom Fighters IP? 😏
That's just completely bizarre, square enix have clearly lost the plot lol
I'm glad IO has the Hitman IP for themselves, one of my most favourite franchises, I don't think it would be the same if anyone else owned it. Just like when Jezza, Hammond and May left Top Gear, the show just wasn't the same without them.
@viciousarcanum I'm with you there, had so much fun with Freedom Fighters back in the day. Now that the original Xbox games are going to be backward compatible on XB1 I'm hoping FF will eventually make it on to there.
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