Hitman Goes Indie as No Buyers for IO-Interactive Step Up

For a long time the Hitman franchise has been part of Square Enix, but with IO-Interactive posting a massive loss and Square Enix wanting no more to do with it and no buyers for Io-Interactive stepping up, the future of the franchise is in flux. Metro.co.uk reports that Io-Interactive (IOI) will become an independent publisher of games once again.

IOI head Hakan Abrak wrote in a blog post, “I am proud to announce today that IOI is now officially an independent studio. We have successfully concluded our negotiations with Square Enix and have agreed to a management buyout. Crucially, we will keep all of the rights to the Hitman IP.”

This is great news for Hitman fans as it means that the same people who have been developing the game for the past years will continue to do so.

Abrak continued, “This is a watershed moment for IOI. As of today, we have complete control over the direction for our studio and the Hitman IP were about to forge our own future and its incredibly exciting. 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.”

Previously Square Enix had hinted that IOI would be shuttered if a purchase didn’t happen. One bit of confusion centers on if IOI owns the IP to other game franchises it worked on while under Square Enix such as Kane & Lynch and Mini Ninjas. It’s also unclear if Hitman: Season Two episodic plans will continue on.