Goodbye Square Enix, and thanks for the Hitman IP. Danish studio Io Interactive was announced to part ways to publisher and owner Square Enix as revealed in the Japanese company’s recent annual financial press release. While the decision may sound dire, Square Enix ensured that the studio will live on with rumours stating that the Hitman IP will be kept by Io.
Turns out it’s true.
After a long while of silence and some announcements that Hitman is continued to be worked on, the studio finally made it official. Io Interactive did not get bought by any other publisher, instead it became independent.
“This is a watershed moment for IOI. 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, ” said Hakan Abrak, CEO of Io.
“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.”
With that announcement, all is now well. During the time between the being let go by Square Enix and this announcement, Io has been busy updating Hitman: changing the first season’s six piece package into just a one game release that helps newcomers get the whole package, a release on macOS and new content including a still unknown Elusive Target.
This is the best time to go get and play Hitman. The whole package is now out on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Hopefully, there will be a Season 2 of content coming in the near future.