IO Interactive says the next major Hitman game is ‘a little bit on hiatus’

IO Interactive has told Hitman fans not to expect the next major entry in the franchise any time soon.

While the studio plans to continue evolving its World of Assassination trilogy, it appears to have shifted its primary focus to its upcoming James Bond project.

In January, IO rebranded 2021’s Hitman 3 as ‘Hitman World of Assassination’ and incorporated content from Hitman 1 and Hitman 2 into the package.

It also added a new game mode called ‘Freelancer’, a single-player offering featuring roguelike elements, strategic planning and a customisable safehouse.

And IO has told Eurogamer that fans can expect further experimentation with what Hitman can offer before the studio eventually begins work on a new mainline series entry.

“We have such a wonderful platform where we can keep experimenting with what the formula can do and what people expect of it”, said IO co-owner and chief creative officer Christian Elverdam.

“And then at some point, obviously, as any creative, it would be nice to then go in and say, ‘Okay, well, with everything we’ve learned, what would that be if we had to re-articulate a sandbox – what would that look like?'”

Elverdam added: “Right now a major, major new Hitman game: that’s a little bit on hiatus, as we’re building another agent fantasy that’s also taking up a lot of our time. But obviously we’ll come back to beloved Agent 47. He’s still very much in the heart of this company.”

IO revealed in November 2020 that it was working on an officially licensed James Bond game. With the working title Project 007, it will feature an original James Bond origin story.

Further reading

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Hitman studio IO’s James Bond game may not be out until at least 2025

A recent financial report warns of relatively low revenue for the next two financial years

And last month, IO announced that’s it’s working on an online fantasy RPG. Like its Hitman and James Bond projects, the game is in development across its studios in Copenhagen, Malmö and Barcelona.

“We are building a new world, a new IP – an online fantasy RPG,” the company said. “A world and a game built from the core to entertain players and expand for many years to come.”