IO Interactive 'Cannot Wait' to Build a New Hitman

Five years without a new Hitman game is a long time for a studio that's spent more than half its 26-year history building Agent 47's world. In a new interview with The Game Business, IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak made it clear the drought isn't permanent, and that the team is eager to get back to work on the franchise.

"We are looking forward to getting into the weeds on Hitman again," Abrak said. "There hasn't been air for that, for going in, building in systems from the ground up. But rest assured, we cannot wait to get into the engine room and upgrade, invent, and innovate Hitman for you guys again." The reason for the gap, he explained, is straightforward: IO has been building two entirely new games from scratch. 007 First Light, which launches later this month, required significant new groundwork because it's a very different kind of game from Hitman. On top of that, IO is also developing an unannounced fantasy title that Abrak describes as "very, very far" along.

This is exactly what Hitman fans needed to hear. After the World of Assassination trilogy wrapped up so well, the silence around Agent 47 while IO poured resources into Bond and a mystery project was starting to feel permanent. It wasn't, and the fact that Abrak frames it as something the studio actively wants to do rather than something it'll eventually get around to matters. IO proved with Hitman 2016 through Hitman 3 that it could iterate brilliantly on a single formula across three games, cutting costs dramatically each time while raising quality. I'd bet the experience of building 007 First Light's combat and narrative systems feeds directly into whatever Hitman looks like next.

No timeline, no details, no promises beyond enthusiasm. But from a studio that just shipped its most expensive game ever while reportedly spending half of what its AAA competitors burn through, "we cannot wait" carries more weight than the usual corporate reassurance.