IO Interactive is putting the Hitman franchise on hiatus as it focuses instead on the long-anticipated James Bond game.
As reported by PC gamersaid Christian Elverdam, Chief Creative Officer at IO Interactive. euro gamer Hitman: World of Assassination will continue to be updated, but it may be a while before fans get another major entry.
“Right now it’s a major, major new Hitman game… It’s taking a bit of a break because we’re building another agent fantasy. That’s also taking a lot of time.” We’re back with our beloved Agent 47. He’s still at the heart of this company.”
The “agent fantasy” Elberdam is talking about is, of course, the James Bond game announced in 2020, currently only codenamed Project 007. It will be an original story.
IO Interactive recently rebranded Hitman 3 as World of Assassination, incorporating all levels from the previous Hitman Trilogy into the game, and also launched Freelance’s roguelike mode. The developers still have plans to support the game, even if they’re not yet working on a full sequel.
“I hope we can eat and eat cake in the sense that we have a great platform where we can continue to experiment with what the formula can do and what people expect,” Elberdam said.
“And at some point, obviously, like any creative, you’re like, ‘Okay, given everything we’ve learned so far, what if we have to rebuild the sandbox? What would it look like?”
IO Interactive could be busy with more than Hitman, as IO Interactive announced in February that an online fantasy RPG was also in development at the studio. “We are embarking on a new adventure, one that expands our creativity, our capabilities and in a way our identity. We are building a new world, a new IP – an online fantasy RPG. .”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and UK news editor. He talks about witchers all day long.
