Now thatHitman 3has been rebranded and re-released asHitman: World of Assassination, IO Interactive has confirmed that the studio is done with the franchise for the time being. The series' latest trilogy of games has gone through a fairly rough development period, even going so far as to try launching new levels as episodic sandboxes. But now that the dust has settled, things are finally looking up.
In fact, therelease ofHitman: World of Assassinationwas essentially the biggest content update thatHitman 3had received up until then. Featuring new levels and the long-awaited introduction of a veritable rogue-lite game mode, Freelancer, IO Interactive managed to re-establish the IP as the pinnacle of the social stealth gaming niche, and its staff is now ready to move on to different projects.
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With the studio hard at work on an all-new007title and an unannounced fantasy role-playing game, it would seem that most of its production capacities are being directed to entirely new ventures instead of sticking withHitman. In a recent interview with Eurogamer, the chief creative officer and co-owner of IO Interactive, Christian Elverdam said that “[theHitmanfranchise] is a little bit on hiatus.” Elverdam went on to explain that the007game is taking up a lot of the studio’s time. Still, he said that IOI will eventually “come back to beloved Agent 47” when the time is right.
After years of working onHitmanand nothing but, it’s only natural that IOI would want to mix things up with something different, yet potentially very similar. That’s where themysterious James Bond-themedProject 007comes in, of course. Yet, Elverdam did say thatHitmanfans may get more content for theWorld of Assassinationdown the line. “We have such a wonderful platform where we can keep experimenting,” he explained.
While Elverdam’s hints are far from being any kind of hard confirmation, it is evident that the very nature ofHitman: World of Assassinationlends itself rather well to late content updates and standalone missions. The launch ofHitman 3’s Ambrose Islandis a prime example of this being the case, as the level fit right into the game even though it was added after the main narrative got wrapped up.
It’s going to be particularly interesting to see how the lessons the developer learned during itsHitmanstint get applied toIO Interactive’s new fantasy RPG. Whereas many of the systems and features present inHitmancan transition well to a game starring James Bond, the same won’t necessarily be the case with a fantasy RPG. Whatever the case may be, IOI made sure thatHitmanfans have plenty to do until the franchise is back from its hiatus, regaining plenty of goodwill after the criticized release ofHitman: Absolution.
Hitman: World of Assassinationis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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