IO addresses Hitman Switch 2 performance issues and says fixes are on the way

IO Interactive has addressed the performance issues facing Hitman: World of Assassination on Nintendo Switch 2, and told VGC that fixes are on the way.

Hitman: World of Assassination was a launch title for Nintendo Switch 2. When the game was released, fans were quick to point out some technical issues with the game, such as stuttering, frame rate dips and more.

Now, IO has told journalist Matthew Reynolds for VGC that the team is working to address the issues and that an update is coming soon.

“So for Hitman, the team is working on some of those performance issues right now, and they are addressing it over the summer,” said franchise director Jonathan Lacaille.

No specific date was given for the fixes, but IO has said that the experience of working on Hitman for Nintendo‘s new system was a great way to gain experience from the hardware ahead of 007: First Light.

“It’s, of course, good learning for us to bring to First Light as well – so all of this will be learnings we bring to the next title.”

Lacaille credits IO’s engine, Glacier, for much of the studio’s success and its ability to port games quickly.

“It enables us to bring a game to as many platforms as possible with limited friction. So in that aspect, it’s quite easy for us, as long as there is a new platform coming out to bring a game on it.”

IO’s next game, 007: First Light, will launch on the Nintendo Switch 2 alongside its PC, PS5, and Xbox Series counterparts.

“As far as the Switch 2 goes, Nintendo has always been a great partner with us,” Lacaille said. “We had brought Hitman as a cloud version on the first Switch, and now, the Switch 2 is a powerful device – powerful enough for us to bring First Light to it natively.”

A gameplay reveal for 007 First Light is coming this Summer.

Studio CEO Hakan Abrak stated back in January 2021 that the game won’t lean on previous Bond movies or actors, and that IO instead intends to build a James Bond universe from scratch.

In an interview last October, Abrak said players wouldn’t have to wait much longer for more information, telling IGN that the game’s production was “going amazingly well”.

“I know it was a little teaser, not a lot of information, but there’s a lot of cool stuff coming up,” he said. “We are also very excited and when we are ready with that, we’ll be opening up.”

Abrak also said he hoped the game could become the first entry in a trilogy, adding: “Equally important and exciting, it’s a new Bond. It’s a Bond we built from ground up for gamers.

“It’s extremely exciting with all the tradition and all the history there is there together to work on this together with the family of creating a young Bond for gamers, a Bond that the gamers can call their own and grow with.”